Thursday, March 29, 2007

What I read: 1991

What do you care what I read in 1991? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful.

  1. American vampires by Norine Dresser
  2. Carrion comfort by Dan Simmons
  3. Bone by George C. Chesbro
  4. Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
  5. That's not all folks by Mel Blanc
  6. Vespers by Ed McBain
  7. Strange invasion by Michael Kandel
  8. The ascension factor by Michael Bishop
  9. Software conflict by Robert Glass
  10. The cipher by Kathe Koja
  11. Prime directive by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
  12. The dark half by Stephen King
  13. The thief of time by Tony Hillerman
  14. Cutter by Edward Bryant
  15. Yellow fog by Les Daniels
  16. A fire in the sun by George Alec Effinger
  17. Xolotl by Robert Sheckley
  18. The game by Ken Dryden
  19. Poodle springs by Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker
  20. The SFWA handbook edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith
  21. Rules of prey by John Sanford
  22. Flag full of stars by Brad Ferguson
  23. The killer inside me by Jim Thompson
  24. Stardust by Robert B. Parker
  25. The fifth profession by David Morrell
  26. Songs from the starts by Norman Spinrad
  27. Deadlines by John Skipp and Craig Spector
  28. Polar city blues by Katherine Kerr
  29. Esse hominid by Esther Friesner
  30. Gauntlet edited by Barry Hoffmann
  31. Sunglasses after dark by Nancy A. Collins
  32. Vendetta by Peter David
  33. The girl who fell from the sky by Kate Wilhelm
  34. A case of mistaken identity by L. Timmel Duchamp
  35. Black cherry blues by James Lee Burke
  36. Good news from outer space by John Kessel
  37. Lords of the line by David Cruise & Alison Griffiths
  38. Murder can be fun by Frederic Brown
  39. The city, not long after by Pat Murphy
  40. Wizardry & wild romance by Michael Moorcock
  41. Hard candy by Andrew Vachss
  42. Mark of the werewolf by Jeffrey Sackett
  43. Only begotten daughter by James Morrow
  44. Dinosaurs by Walter Jon Williams
  45. The mythical man month by Fred L. Brooks
  46. Slob by Rex Miller
  47. Myth-nomers and Impervections by Robert Asprin
  48. The further adventures of the Joker edited by Martin H. Greenberg
  49. What might have been VII edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg
  50. Batman: Captured by the Engines by Joe R. Lansdale
  51. My enemy, my ally by Diane Duane
  52. Homegoing by Frederik Pohl
  53. A morning for flamingoes by James Lee Burke
  54. A burden of proof by Scott Turow
  55. Obsession by Rick Reed
  56. Sunday best by Edward O. Phillips
  57. The quickening by Michael Bishop
  58. City of truth by James Morrow
  59. Pacific edge by Kim Stanley Robinson
  60. Under the yoke by S.M. Stirling
  61. The will to swing by Gene Lees
  62. Wyrd sisters by Terry Pratchett
  63. The left hand of darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
  64. The Romulan way by Diane Duane & Peter Morwood
  65. Dark matter by Garfield Reeves-Stevens
  66. Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi by Rob MacGregor
  67. Russian spring by Norman Spinrad
  68. No enemy but time by Michael Bishop
  69. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  70. Q-in-law by Peter David
  71. Killer on the road by James Ellroy
  72. Four past midnight by Stephen King
  73. Man-Kzin wars IV by Donald Kingsbury, Greg Bear and S.M. Stirling
  74. Books of blood V by Clive Barker
  75. Green eyes by Lucius Shepard
  76. Night by Alan Rodgers
  77. Jurassic park by Michael Crichton

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Friday, March 23, 2007

What I read: 1990

What do you care what I read in 1990? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful.

  1. Ace Double: The color of neanderthal eyes by James Tiptree, Jr. // And strange at ecbatan the trees by Michael Bishop
  2. Black sun rising by Frederik Pohl
  3. Lincoln's dreams by Connie Willis
  4. Through darkest America by Neal Barrett, jr.
  5. The scream by John Skipp and Craig Spector
  6. Marching through Georgia by S.M. Stirling
  7. Demon lord of Karanda by David Eddings
  8. Playmates by Robert B. Parker
  9. Narabedla, Inc. by Frederik Pohl
  10. The colour of magic by Terry Prachett
  11. Only apparently real by Paul Williams
  12. Black dahlia by James Ellroy
  13. Wonder's child by Jack Williamson
  14. Callahan's secret by Spider Robinson
  15. When gravity fails by George Alec Effinger
  16. Blood of the impaler by Jeffrey Sackett
  17. Nighteyes by Garfield Reeves-Stevens
  18. The maker of Dune by Frank Herbert
  19. Islands in the net by Bruce Sterling
  20. Bio of an ogre by Piers Anthony
  21. Slaves of the volcano god by Craig Shaw Gardner
  22. Headhunter by Michael Slade
  23. Winter palace by Dennis Jones
  24. Strike zone by Peter David
  25. The wolf's hour by Robert R. McCammon
  26. Love and marriage by Bill Cosby
  27. Doctor's orders by Diane Duane
  28. Tau zero by Poul Anderson
  29. Metamorphosis by David Suzuki
  30. The skin trade edited by Douglas E. Winter
  31. The league of night and fog by David Morrell
  32. I hope I shall arrive soon by Philip K. Dick
  33. A is for alibi by Sue Grafton
  34. Peter Cushing: An autobiography by Peter Cushing
  35. Presumed innocent by Scott Turow
  36. Deserted cities of the heart by Lewis Shiner
  37. The exorcist by William Peter Blatty
  38. Lori by Robert Bloch
  39. Good times by Russell Baker
  40. Ace Double: Enemy mine by Barry B. Longyear // Another orphan by John Kessel
  41. A talent for war by Jack McDevitt
  42. The evolution man by Roy Lewis
  43. Ancient images by Ramsey Campbell
  44. Science fiction in the real world by Norman Spinrad
  45. Digging dinosaurs by Jack R. Horner
  46. Star Trek: The lost years by J.M. Dillard
  47. Nick and the Glimmung by Philip K. Dick
  48. The god box by Barry B. Longyear
  49. The silence of the lambs by Thomas Harris
  50. Becoming a technical leader by Gerald M. Weinberg
  51. Misery by Stephen King
  52. Star wreck by Leah Rewolinski
  53. Running wild by J.G. Ballard
  54. Sea of glass by Barry B. Longyear
  55. Dark dreamers by Stanley Wiater
  56. Red prophet by Orson Scott Card
  57. The chocolat war by Robert Cormier
  58. Managing programming people by Philip Metzger
  59. Escape from Kathmandu by Kim Stanley Robinson
  60. Sorceress of Darshiva by David Eddings
  61. The healer's war by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
  62. The right place at the right time by Robert MacNeil
  63. Sepulchre by James Herbert
  64. Bill: Planet of the robot slaves by Harry Harrison
  65. A hidden place by Robert Charles Wilson
  66. Book of the dead by John Skipp and Craig Spector

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

What I read: 1989

What do you care what I read in 1989? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency by Douglas Adams
  2. The leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters
  3. Other Americas by Normal Spinrad
  4. Cabal by Clive Barker
  5. Knight life by Peter David
  6. 2061: Odyssey three by Arthur C. Clarke
  7. The green train by Herbert Lieberman
  8. One-L by Scott Turow
  9. Survivors by Jean Lorrah
  10. In the ocean of night by Gregory Benford
  11. The hunting season by John Coyne
  12. Mindkiller by Spider Robinson
  13. The king of the Murgos by David Eddings
  14. I'll cry when I kill you by Peter Israel
  15. XPD by Len Deighton
  16. Spock must die! by James Blish
  17. The jagged orbit by John Brunner
  18. Crimson joy by Robert B. Parker
  19. Memory prime by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens
  20. Pet sematary by Stephen King
  21. This is the way the world ends by James Morrow
  22. Hot blood edited by Jeff Gelb and Lonn Friend
  23. Seventh son by Orson Scott Card
  24. The gold coast by Kim Stanley Robinson
  25. Ghoul by Michael Slade
  26. Replay by Ken Grimwood
  27. The hormone jungle by Robert Reed
  28. The hunt for red october by Tom Clancy
  29. Prime evil edited by Douglas E. Winter
  30. Angry candy by Harlan Ellison
  31. Bill, the galactic hero by Harry Harrison
  32. Unicorn mountain by Michael Bishop
  33. Spock's world by Diane Duane
  34. The eyes of the dragon by Stephen King
  35. The colour out of time by Michael Shea
  36. The suiting by Kelley Wilde
  37. Bare bones edited by Tim Underwood & Chuck Miller
  38. The Barsoom project by Larry Niven and Stephen Barnes
  39. Greenmantle by John Buchan
  40. Rogue male by Geoffrey Household
  41. Fade by Robert Cormier
  42. An edge in my voice by Harlan Ellison
  43. Journey into fear by Eric Ambler
  44. The spy who came in from the cold by John Le Carre
  45. What might have been: I edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg
  46. Howling mad by Peter David
  47. Myth inc link by Robert Asprin
  48. Adversary by Daniel Rhodes
  49. The year's best horror: 11 edited by Karl Edward Wagner
  50. Mort by Terry Pratchett
  51. Obsession by Ramsey Campbell
  52. The motion of light in water by Samuel R. Delany
  53. Lullaby by Ed McBain
  54. The Kobayashi Maru by Julia Eckler

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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Shirley, John. Demons. New York: Ballantine, 2003. 372pp.

This is really two pretty good horror novels bound together as one. The first is Shirley's short novel Demons and the second is its sequel Undercurrent.

Demons is a fairly traditional horror novel, well done in an over-the-top way. It seems that demons have suddenly started appearing in the world, randomly killing people that get in their way. A courageous band of anti-heroes band together to figure out how to get rid of them. Some good gorey sequences and some good mumbo-jumbo supernatural stuff too make for a satisfying experience. Undercurrent, the sequel, picks up nine years later and it seems that the government has convinced everyone (or almost everyone) that the original infestation was a mass delusion. So, it seems that this evil corporation want to...well, I'll let you find that out for yourself. Undercurrent neatly subverts the traditional horror tropes and pushes them into a kind of social citique of capitalist greed. I'm not sure how well it works in the end, nor am I sure that it makes for as compelling a read as the original, but I have to give Shirley props for reaching high.

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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

What I read: 1988

What do you care what I read in 1988? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. Thunderball by Ian Fleming
  2. The alteration by Kingsley Amis
  3. A fine and private place by Peter S. Beagle
  4. The lights in the sky are stars by Fredric Brown
  5. Myth directions by Robert Asprin
  6. The end of the night by John D. Macdonald
  7. The brotherhood of the rose by David Morrell
  8. Ender's game by Orson Scott Card
  9. Her death of cold by Ralph McInerny
  10. The moon godess and the sun by Donald Kingsbury
  11. Shadow land by Peter Straub
  12. Chernobyl by Frederik Pohl
  13. The godwulf manuscript by Robert B. Parker
  14. Bloodthirst by J.M. Dillard
  15. The shore of women by Pamela Sargent
  16. The witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz
  17. Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore
  18. Dagon by Fred Chappell
  19. The panic of '89 by Paul Erdman
  20. Rumplestiltskin by Ed McBain
  21. Hit or myth by Robert Asprin
  22. Bio of a space tyrant 5: Stateman by Piers Anthony
  23. The red fox by Anthony Hyde
  24. Ancient of days by Michael Bishop
  25. A friendship: The letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald 1967-1974 by Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald
  26. The devil in velvet by John Dickson Carr
  27. The guardians of the west by David Eddings
  28. The annals of the Heechee by Frederik Pohl
  29. Valediction by Robert B. Parker
  30. Hold on, Mr. President by Sam Donaldson
  31. The widening gyre by Robert B. Parker
  32. The songs of distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
  33. Radix by A.A. Attanasio
  34. Pale kings and princes by Robert B. Parker
  35. The princess bride by William Goldman
  36. Ironweed by William Kennedy
  37. The vampire tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
  38. The blue hammer by Ross MacDonald
  39. Pavane by Keith Roberts
  40. Be true to your school by Bob Greene
  41. Dark horse by Fletcher Knebel
  42. Speaker for the dead by Orson Scott Card
  43. Final frontier by Diane Carey
  44. Glitz by Elmore Leonard
  45. The black robe by Brian Moore
  46. Tuf voyaging by George R.R. Martin
  47. The long night of the grave by Charles L. Grant
  48. Lovecraft's book by Richard Lupoff
  49. The eagle has landed by Jack Higgins
  50. The Bourne identity by Robert Ludlum
  51. Myth-ing persons by Robert Asprin
  52. Dead image by Clive Barker
  53. Heavenly breakfast by Samuel R. Delany
  54. The dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
  55. Sleepless nights in the procrustean bed by Harlan Ellison
  56. Full spectrum edited by Lou Aronica and Sheila McCarthy
  57. Next, after Lucifer by Daniel Rhodes
  58. Children of the shroud by Garfield Reeves-Stephens
  59. The incorporated knight by L. Sprague de Camp
  60. Early autumn by Robert B. Parker
  61. The fraternity of the stone by David Morrell
  62. The dragon in the sword by Michael Moorcock
  63. Dr. Adder by K.W. Jeter
  64. Gorky park by Martin Cruz Smith
  65. Station Gehenna by Andrew Weiner
  66. Dress her in indigo by John D. Macdonald
  67. Dark valley destiny by L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp and Jane Whittington Griffin
  68. The best of Jack Williamson by Jack Williamson
  69. Little myth marker by Robert Asprin

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What I read: 1987

What do you care what I read in 1987? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. Neuromancer by William Gibson
  2. The best of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick
  3. Callahan's crosstime saloon by Spider Robinson
  4. Crash by J.G. Ballard
  5. Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
  6. A mobid taste for bones by Ellis Peters
  7. Blue champagne by John Varley
  8. Trespass by Fletcher Knebel
  9. The virgin & the wheels by L. Sprague de Camp
  10. Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon
  11. Fuzz by Ed McBain
  12. Three hearts and three lions by Poul Anderson
  13. The best of Fritz Leiber by Fritz Leiber
  14. The warlock unlocked by Christopher Stasheff
  15. The adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
  16. Taming a seahorse by Robert B. Parker
  17. Different seasons by Stephen King
  18. Ceremony by Robert B. Parker
  19. Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
  20. Radio free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick
  21. Raven: Swordsmistress of chaos by Richard Kirk
  22. Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker
  23. Dream park by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes
  24. Wild cards edited by George R.R. Martin
  25. Fatherhood by Bill Cosby
  26. Armageddon rag by George R.R. Martin
  27. Not this August by C.M. Kornbluth
  28. Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonnano
  29. Fouth side of the triange by Ellery Queen (Avram Davidson)
  30. City at world's end by Edmond Hamilton
  31. My discovery of America by Farley Mowat
  32. What's become of screwloose by Ron Goulart
  33. Little heroes by Norman Spinrad
  34. Deathbird stories by Harlan Ellison
  35. The damnation game by Clive Barker
  36. Why not you and I by Karl Edward Wagner
  37. The black curtain by Cornell Woolrich
  38. Hitler victorious edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg
  39. Fletch by Gregory McDonald
  40. Raven: A time of ghosts by Richard Kirk
  41. Vampire junction by S.P. Somtow
  42. Wasp by Eric Frank Russell
  43. Bio of a space tyrant 4: Executive
  44. God save the child by Robert B. Parker
  45. The wild shore by Kim Stanley Robinson
  46. Psycho by Robert Block
  47. Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
  48. How much for just the planet? by John M. Ford
  49. Another fine myth by Robert Asprin
  50. Time travellers strictly cash by Spider Robinson
  51. Beyond armageddon edited by Walter M. Miller, jr. and Martin H. Greenberg
  52. First flight by Chris Claremont
  53. Myth conceptions by Robert Asprin
  54. Tom O'Bedlam by Robert Silverberg
  55. The thin man by Dashiell Hammett
  56. Skraelings by Carl Sherrell
  57. Man of two worlds by Frank and Brian Herbert

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Monday, March 05, 2007

What I read: 1986

What do you care what I read in 1986? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. Dark forces edited by Kirby McCauley
  2. King Kobold revived by Christopher Stasheff
  3. Bethune by Roderick Stewart
  4. Camp concentration by Thomas M. Disch
  5. Stalking the nightmare by Harlan Ellison
  6. The best of Fredric Brown by Fredric Brown
  7. Pawn of prophesy by David Eddings
  8. The humanoid touch by Jack Williamson
  9. The fog by James Herbert
  10. Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad
  11. Bio of a space tyrant 2: Mercenary
  12. Queen of sorcery by David Eddings
  13. Magicians gambit by David Eddings
  14. Castle of wizardry by David Eddings
  15. And on the eighth day by Ellery Queen (Avram Davidson)
  16. Enchanter`s endgame by David Eddings
  17. The best of Frederik Pohl by Frederik Pohl
  18. The Holmes-Dracula file by Fred Saberhagen
  19. Miracle visitors by Ian Watson
  20. New maps of hell by Kingsley Amis
  21. The science fiction novel edited by Basil Davenport
  22. The house next door by Anne Rivers Siddons
  23. The glass teat by Harlan Ellison
  24. The long tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
  25. Star songs of an old primate by James Tiptree, jr.
  26. Pilgramage by Zenna Henderson
  27. Growing up by Russell Baker
  28. The big sleep by Raymond Chandler
  29. 2010: Odyssey two by Arthur C. Clarke
  30. Silverlock by John Myers Myers
  31. The other glass teat by Harlan Ellison
  32. Child of fortune by Norman Spinrad
  33. Merchant's war by Frederik Pohl
  34. A Catskill eagle by Robert B. Parker
  35. The last days of the edge of the world by Brain Stableford
  36. I, vampire by Jody Scott
  37. The best of C.L. Moore C.L. Moore
  38. Sinister barrier by Eric Frank Russell
  39. Heroes in hell edited by Janet Morris
  40. The history of the runestaff by Michael Moorcock
  41. The year's best fantasy stories: 11 by Arthur W. Saha
  42. Enterprise: The first adventure by Vonda N. McIntyre
  43. Startide rising by David Brin
  44. A touch of strange by Theodore Sturgeon
  45. Foundation's edge by Isaac Asimov
  46. Driftglass by Samuel R. Delany
  47. Bio of a space tyrant 3: Politician by Piers Anthony
  48. Empire of the sun by J.G. Ballard
  49. Masters of Darkness edited by Dennis Etchisson

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Novik, Naomi. Thone of jade. New York: Del Rey, 2006. 432pp.

This is the second in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series of novels, the first being His majesty's dragon. The series is an alternate history fantasy set during the Napoleonic wars, the different being that the various warring factions have dragons that they use more or less like flying warships, complete with rigging, crews and naval jargon and naval tactics.

The first got terrific reviews and was one of the serious buzz books in 2006 and I'll admit to being fairly positive myself. Throne of jade was a different story altogether. It got altogether mixed reviews most saying it was pretty boring compared to the first. I'm more or less in agreement with those sentiments though perhaps not as strongly as many.

The basic plot is that the Chinese government was the dragon, Temeraire, back from th e British, who captured him as an egg from a French ship.The Brits, and in particular his British captain, Will Laurence, disagree and want to keep him. A complication is that the government would seem willing to give the dragon up to secure the Chinese cooperation against the French. So, Laurence, Temeraire, a Chinese delegation and some British government officials set off on a boat for China to see what deal can be struck. Around page 100. And arrive around page 300. Two hundred pages on a boat. This is what everyone complains about with the novel, that those 200 pages are filled with, well, filler. And they are. The voyage should have been compressed into 50-75 pages and the wheeling and dealing in China made the true focus of the novel. I agree. The last 100 or so pages were great, very tense, very exciting, full of intrigue and drama. Everything the voyage was not.

So, not a great book, but not so bad either. There were a few good battles and crises on the slow boat to China to keep me somewhat interested but I do definitely hopw that the third book is much more focused and keeps it's eye on the dragon.

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Sunday, March 04, 2007

What I read: 1985

What do you care what I read in 1985? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. The Maltese falcon by Dashiel Hammett
  2. Love ain't nothing but sex misspelled by Harlan Ellison
  3. The year's best fantasy stories: 10 by Arthur W. Saha
  4. Virgin planet by Poul Anderson
  5. The female man by Joanna Russ
  6. Mutant by Henry Kuttner
  7. The best of L. Sprague de Camp by L. Sprague de Camp
  8. The day of the triffids by John Wyndham
  9. The golden apples of the sun by Ray Bradbury
  10. The warlord of the air by Michael Moorcock
  11. The best of C.M. Kornbluth by C.M. Kornbluth
  12. Triton by Samuel R. Delany
  13. The worlds of Frank Herbert by Frank Herbert
  14. Bio of a space tyrant 1: Refugee by Piers Anthony
  15. The wanderer by Fritz Leiber
  16. The blue world by Jack Vance
  17. The man in the high castle by Philip K. Dick
  18. Heechee rendezvous by Frederik Pohl
  19. Killer by David Drake and Karl Edward Wagner
  20. Thorns by Robert Silverberg
  21. Conan the rebel by Poul Anderson
  22. The best of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith
  23. Medea: Harlan`s world edited by Harlan Ellison
  24. 5 odd edited by Groff Conklin
  25. The haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson
  26. The quintessence of Ellery Queen edited by Anthony Boucher
  27. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  28. The warlock in spite of himself by Christopher Stasheff
  29. The drowned world by J.G. Ballard
  30. The shores of space by Richard Matheson
  31. Tolkein: a biography by Humphrey Carpenter
  32. Fevre dream by George R.R. Martin
  33. The best of Raymond Z. Gallun by Raymond Z. Gallun
  34. So long and thanks for all the fish by Douglas Adams
  35. Image of the beast by Philip Jose Farmer
  36. Strange eons by Robert Bloch
  37. Nine hundred grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty
  38. Love by Leo Buscaglia
  39. Davey by Edgar Pangborn

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Friday, March 02, 2007

What I read: 1984

What do you care what I read in 1984? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 in 1983 when I started keeping track of the books I read) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful
  1. Moon of skulls by Robert E. Howard
  2. Second foundation by Isaac Asimov
  3. A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens
  4. The white plague by Frank Herbert
  5. Good Neighbors and other strangers by Edgar Pangborn
  6. Partners in wonder by Harlan Ellison and others
  7. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
  8. Bypass to otherness by Henry Kuttner
  9. Martian timeslip by Philip K. Dick
  10. Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein
  11. Lest darkness fall by L. Sprague de Camp
  12. Conjure wife by Fritz Leiber
  13. The starchild trilogy by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson
  14. The best of Stanley G. Weinbaum by Stanley G. Weinbaum
  15. Dream makers by Charles Platt
  16. Project Pope by Clifford D. Simak
  17. Federation by H. Beam Piper
  18. Thirteen o'clock by C.M. Kornbluth
  19. Courtship rite by Donald Kingsbury
  20. 2001: A space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
  21. Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman
  22. the space beyond by John W. Campbell, jr.
  23. The stars my destination by Alfred Bester
  24. The best of Lester del Rey by Lester del Rey, edited by Frederik Pohl
  25. Universe 3 edited by Terry Carr
  26. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams
  27. The restaurant at the end of the universe by Douglas Adams
  28. Life, the universe and everything by Douglas Adams
  29. Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
  30. Shatterday by Harlan Ellison
  31. Neutron star by Larry Niven
  32. The chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  33. The iron man by Robert E. Howard
  34. The compleat enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
  35. The best of Edmond Hamilton by Edmond Hamilton
  36. The golden man by Philip K. Dick
  37. The Lazarus effect by Frank Herbert and Bill Ranson
  38. The science fiction hall of fame, volume 2A edited by Ben Bova
  39. The player on the other side by Ellery Queen (Theodore Sturgeon)
  40. Nightfall and other stories by Isaac Asimov
  41. At the mountains of madness by H.P. Lovecraft
  42. 100 sf short short stories edited by Isaac Asimov and others
  43. Outlaw of Gor by John Norman
  44. The year of the quiet sun by Wilson Tucker
  45. The worlds of Fritz Leiber by Fritz Leiber
  46. Preferred Risk by Edson McCann (Frederik Pohl and Lester del Rey)
  47. The man in the jungle by Norman Spinrad
  48. The fountains of paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
  49. A dream of Dracula by Leonard Wolf
  50. Beyond by Theodore Sturgeon
  51. A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, jr.
  52. The best of Eric Frank Russel by Eric Frank Russell
  53. Danse macabre by Stephen King

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What I Read: 1983

What do you care what I read in 1983? Nothing, of course, but I do. As I get older (I was 20 when I started this list) I find myself more and more in the position of looking at a stack of books on my shelves by, say, Cornell Woolrich and they all have the word "Black" in the title. I know I've read a couple but I can't remember which ones. Fortunately, I've been maintaining a little list in a little brown book since April 1983 of all the books I've read (or at least attempted). By putting this list here it will be searchable. I may ultimately put at least some of it in something like LibraryThing, but for now I'll be putting it here. The advantage is that the blog is quick and dirty, without a lot of effort per entry. The books are in the order I read them.

By way of adding some value to the list, I'll italicize any work that I remember as being particularly wonderful

  1. Cities in flight by James Blish
  2. Lord Foul's bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
  3. The eyes of Heisenberg by Frank Herbert
  4. The gray prince by Jack Vance
  5. Island by Aldous Huxley
  6. The illearth war by Stephen R. Donaldson
  7. Tree and leaf by J.R.R. Tolkein
  8. Nerves by Lester del Rey
  9. The weird of the white wolf by Michael Moorcock
  10. Approaching oblivion by Harlan Ellison
  11. Norstilia by Cordwainer Smith
  12. The currents of space by Isaac Asimov
  13. The persistence of vision by John Varley
  14. The power that preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson
  15. Flesh/Lord Tyger by Philip Jose Farmer
  16. Thuvia, maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  17. The synthetic man by Theodore Sturgeon
  18. Flow my tear, the policeman said by Philip K. Dick
  19. When worlds collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer
  20. The well of the unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
  21. The science fiction hall of fame, volume 1 edited by Robert Silverberg
  22. The way the future was by Frederik Pohl
  23. In a lonely place by Karl Edward Wagner
  24. The swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber
  25. The book of skulls by Robert Silverberg
  26. Away and beyond by A.E. van Vogt
  27. Web by John Wyndham
  28. Erewhon by Samuel Butler
  29. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  30. The evil that men do/The purloined planet by Lin Carter
  31. Time and stars by Poul Anderson
  32. The syndic by C.M. Kornbluth
  33. The singing citadel by Michael Moorcock
  34. Asimov on science fiction by Isaac Asimov
  35. Golem 100 by Alfred Bester
  36. The new Adam by Stanley G. Weinbaum
  37. After worlds collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer
  38. Again, dangerous visions edited by Harlan Ellison
  39. Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
  40. The humanoids by Jack Williamson
  41. The space tug by Murray Leinster
  42. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
  43. Foundation and empire by Isaac Asimov

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Thursday, March 01, 2007

Gawande, Atul, editor & Jesse Cohen, series editor. The best American science writing 2006. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. 362pp.

Greene, Brian, editor & Tim Folger, series editor. The best American science and nature writing 2006. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 290pp.

Zivkovic, Bora, editor. The open laboratory: The best writing on science blogs 2006. Chapel Hill, NC: Lulu.com/coturnix, 2007. 315pp.


First of all, these three books are all self-recommending. If you care about science, if you love good writing and especially if you can't get enough good writing about science then you have to buy and read these books. In the end, you won't be sorry with any or all of these books.

Two of them are from established series, Brian Greene's Best American Science & Nature Writing 2006 and Atul Gawande's Best American Science Writing 2006; as such, we really know what to expect from these books: high quality popular science journalism from the print media. And basically they both come through with representative volumes in their series. I'll talk about them in some detail, but not too much as, like I said, the series are known quantities. The third, Bora Zivkovic's Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006 is a totally new beast. The first in what will hopefully be a series collecting the best in recent science writing on science-related weblogs. This is a wild card; going in we really don't have too much of an idea of what to expect in terms of quality of writing or variety of coverage or even basic interest level of most of the pieces. To make matters even more uncertain, it's self-published using the print-on-demand service Lulu.com rather than a traditional publisher, so potentially quality control for both the physical and intellectual components could be an issue. As a result, I'll discuss this book in quite a bit more detail.

I'll discuss them in the order I read them.

First of all, Brian Greene's Best American Science and Nature Writing 2006 (BASNW). Really solid, most of the articles were professional and interesting. Having read every book in the series since 2000, I can say that this volume does not shame the series at all. I especially like the way Greene uses the introduction to encourage us to see good science writing as a way to bridge C.P. Snow's famous Two Cultures, bringing together humanists and scientists around the warm glow of the scientific world view. A couple of the really notable stories this time around are John Hockenberry's "The Blogs of War" about soldiers blogging from Iraq and the free speech/military discipline issues around that. Another is Kevin Krajick's "The Mummy Doctor" about a man who's devoted his live to studying mummified human remains. Finally, I'd like to mention Charles C. Mann's "The Coming Death Shortage" about the oncoming population bulge in retired people and how it will effect western society, a fine article, one of the most thought provoking I've read in quite some time.

Now for the bad news. I always have a few quibbles with these books, and this one is no exception. One of the unfortunate things is that the quibbles always seem to be similar. First of all, 25 stories, only 2 women. Ok, Natalie Angier is pretty well the best science writer out there and she's one of the two. But you have to think that 2 out of 25 is pretty pathetic. Secondly, of 25 stories, 7 were from The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books or The New Yorker. Either Greene or (more likely) the series editor really need to get out more. As well, 6 were from Scientific American, another huge problem. SciAm tends a bit towards a kind of homogenized earnest dullness in thier articles, which while perfect for what they're trying to accomplish, tends to wear on you after a while. Greene should have made an effort to include a bit more diversity in his selections. Another quibble was that there was basically no nature writing, maybe 1.5 articles out of the total.

Next comes Atul Gawande's The Best American Science Writing 2006 (BASW). This is a particularly terrific example of a science essay collection. I think Gawande has done an exemplary job putting this book together. I've read a few of his essays in previous volumes of the various series and they were all excellent; I will try to track down his recent book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science.

He sets the tone for BASW right up front in the introduction:
So then what would the definition of the best science writing be? The clearest, most completely objective answer is: the best science writing is science writing that is cool. Even better, this particular year the best science writing is science writing that I think is cool...

I like science writing to be clear and to be interesting to scientists and nonscientists alike. I like it to be smart. I like it, every once in a while, to be funny. I like science writing to have a beginning, middle, and end -- to tell a story whenever possible.

Now that's a manifesto I can live with! And it seems that Gawande and I have very similar tastes in science writing, because I thought an awful lot of the stories he chose were really cool. In particular I'd like to mention Tom Mueller's "Your Move" about the developers of the super chess computer Hydra, Alan Weisman's "Earth without People" which describes how long it would take the planet to revert to its natural state if suddenly all humans were just to disappear. It a great article, very thought provoking and very moving, in a strange way. I also really enjoyed Neil Swidey's "What Makes People Gay" about the genetic and/or developmental origins of homosexuality. A good article is often one that leaves you with more questions, more uncertainty, than when you started. Finally, one of the truly finest stories I've read in any of the volumes of these stories is Richard Preston's "Climbing the Redwoods" about the great redwood forests in the north west -- climbing, exploring the treetops and canopy and hanging out with the dedicated researchers trying to save the redwoods.

A couple of small quibbles with Gawande's book are, of course, inevitable. Again, only two women out of 21 contributors is a little small. With fully six items from The New Yorker and four from The New York Times, and a bunch from the other slick magazines, Gawande suffers a bit from the lack of diversity of sources I noted with the Greene book altough not to the same extent and not as damaging to the quality of the book. For this particular kind of book, choose The New Yorker over Scientific American any day.

Finally, we come to Bora Zivkovic's The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006 (OLBWSB). There's an interesting story behind this one: scientist Bora Zivkovic and some of his colleagues in North Carolina decided to organize a one-day science blogger conference for January 21, 2007, hoping to attract a bunch of bloggers to come and talk about what they do and get to know each other face to face. To commemorate that project, he came up with the idea to edit an anthology of the best recent science blog postings. Unfortunately, by that time it was December 2006 so there was very little time to solicit, compile, edit and publish the book. Well, using the power of the blogosphere and the print-on-demand powers of Lulu.com, he pulled it off (you can read more about the genesis of the book and conference here and here and order the book here).

Needless to say, this was a labour of love that certainly didn't take the full 9 months to be born. The important question is, how does it shape up to the other two? At first glance it seems that Zivkovic set himself an impossible task trying to pull something decent together, both in terms of the presentation and the quality of the content, in such a short period of time. We can probably only expect something shoddy and half-assed -- right? Well, I'm happy to say that all fears of disaster were certainly not justified -- anyone that pays attention to Zivkovic's blog knows that he's smart, capable, dedicated and without a doubt energetic and that he wouldn't let something unworthy out the door. Being a long-term fan of his blog (A Blog Around the Clock, part of the important ScienceBlogs stable), I was pretty sure I would be happy with the book and was looking forward to reading it as soon as he announced the project on his blog. And I wasn't disappointed. The book is very good indeed, better than even I expected. Zivkovic and the mighty forces of the science blogosphere that he drew upon have not let us down.

First, the good news. There's quite good variety in the posts, some longer and most quite short and to the point. That's something I appreciated about this book, the authors get right down to business with no wasted space, reflecting the more hit and run nature of blogs. Also, I appreciated the nice mix of tone, some serious, almost Scientific American-y, some very technical descriptions of some scientific principle, some very sophisticated literature review articles. On the other hand, there were also some pieces with more light-hearted intent, some personal essays and slice of life stories. Evolution vs. intelligent design, global warming deniers and other hot topics were also well covered. I would also like to note a much better percentage of women contributors than the others as well as several non-American voices excluded by definition from the other two. (10 11 women and at least 8 13 non-US out of 50 -- many authors are pseudonymous or don't give easily found location information so these numbers are approximate). The average quality of the writing might be a touch lower than the other two books, but only a little and, to my mind, understandable and almost inevitable in a collection that privileges non-professional writers; the flip-side is that we're getting so much of the information directly from the professional scientists so a few infelicities of style are more than compensated for. There are lots of great bloggers represented in this book, a few I'm certainly adding to my blogroll.

Now for a few individual highlights, although choosing three or four out of 50 is a tough task. The first article that really stood out for me was Zivkovic's own "Everything you ever Wanted to Know about Sleep (but Were Afraid to Ask)" where is gives a lot of information about sleep patterns and habits in a highly digestible and enjoyable fashion. Afarensis' "Lessons from Kennewick" was also very interesting and enjoyable. He talks about some of the important issues surrounding studying ancient human remains while still being respectful of what those remains represent to people today. Skeptico's "What the (Bleep) Were they Thinking" is a great demolition of the film What the (Bleep) Do We Know, which purported to be about how quantum theory supports various new age-y ideas but was really a load of crap. Finally, I'd also like to mention the post from John Hawks's Weblog "Selection, Nuclear Genetic Variation, and mtDNA" which was a bit too technical for me, but was a great example of the kind of review-type essay that's so valuable on the web. You can read the original posts for all the entries in the book here. And before I forget, Lulu.com does a great job on the physical book; it's comparable in quality to the best of trade paperbacks.

There always room for some constructive criticism; most of the quibbles I'm going to mention are obviously a result of the book being put together so quickly. Nevertheless, some issues need to be raised. First of all, there were a few cases where the short author bios at the beginning of each article needed to be expanded a bit. There were a couple of posts from group blogs where the actual author (which Munger from Cognitive Daily) wasn't mentioned or where an author's name is known but it wasn't mentioned in the bio (Ed Brayton at Dispatches from the Culture Wars). A few other hings of that nature, too.

I also found that the subject areas of the blogs were a little more restricted than I would like. The concentration of the life sciences posts, for example, was a bit high, but that reflects the focus of ScienceBlogs platform and of Zivkovic's blog where most of the post recruiting was done. I would have liked to see more on computing and engineering, for example. But again, the short time frame meant that people not plugged into the ScienceBlogs universe would unlikely have found out in time. The fact that Zivkovic also used a panel of volunteers to vote on submitted posts also may have lead to a bit less diversity of subjects -- first-past-the-post systems always reduce diversity at the margins. As an example, I was quite surprised not to see any posts on women in science. I hope Zivkovic uses a stronger editorial hand next time giving the book an even better balance and a stronger personality. But to reiterate, I loved this book so these criticisms are only meant in the most constructive way.

So, after a look at the individual trees, can we take a look at the forest as well? In other words, can I see any major differences in the kind of material in the various books? First of all, BASNW and BASW are composed of professionally written pieces, done for money by professional journalists. The stories are, on average, longer and more structured. They'll take an in-depth topic and explain from start to finish. Often it'll be obvious that no expense was spared in researching the article. The journalists get to travel around, interviewing scientists, visiting their labs or accompanying them on their field work. This leads to really interesting, human stories about the women and men doing the science. On the other hand, the blog postings are a little more all over map. Ranging from screeds against religious zealots and climate change deniers to short essays explicating a very particular scientific or philosophical concept to heartfelt personal essays, they reflect an amazing diversity of thought and opinion. I look forward to reviewing the next iteration of all three of these books this time next year. My final verdict? If I had to rank them, I'd put BASW in first a little; it's definitely the most purely entertaining of the three. A little behind BASW is OLBWSB, which is also a little ahead of BASNW. But, I'm really glad I have all three of these books and would unhesitatingly suggest them to anyone interested in science. I would recommend them to any academic or public library. High school and middle school kids would also really enjoy them. I know my 14 year old is next in line to read them around here!

Update 2007.03.02: Updated numbers of women and non-US contrbutors based on comment by Bora Zivkovic (coturnix) on the other blog.

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