Post a Comment On: A Nod to Nothing

I just didn't make it past seeing the DeBlog part before I moved on. I hope it makes me seem really busy rather than just sloppy.

Apparently, Jason DeRusha (probably via MNSpeak) wants to know what I think qualifies as a 10 on my book list. There's nothing like Absolom, Absolom! on the list, despite having read it. My list only goes back about fourteen years, and I did all my heavy, classical reading before then: the Shakespeare and Don Quixote and early literary classics (as an English/History major). Although I do see The Aeneid and Scivias tucked in there. Nowadays, if I'm picking something up for fun, it's more likely to be some science fiction. I do notice that there are definitely books I'd rate higher now then when I first read them - Ficciones being a prime example.

Mean Mr. Mustard will disagree with me about Armor, and Steakley's other book Vampire$ is truly atrocious and should count against him in all other instances, despite being made into a movie. But I really enjoyed that it didn't have all the trappings of Starship Troopers, which tried to address several disparate social issues. Instead, it's about a man who's trapped in an unending cycle of violence through a quirk of fate, and that seems to sum up the pointlessness of war, despite not overtly dwelling on war as an evil. Fourteen years later, I might not rate it a 10 - but at the time I loved it.

It's an eclectic list. History. Sci fi. Some programming. Here's the top (better than a 9, about 5% of the total) of my list of 527 entered so far.
6/18/2002Revelation SpaceReynolds, Alastair9.25SF&F6/28/2004Redemption ArkReynolds, Alastair9.25SF&F11/1/2003Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in AmericaSavage, Dan9.25NONFICT3/20/2003Canticle for Leibowitz, AMiller, Jr., Walter M.9.25SF&F2/25/2008Practice of Management, TheDrucker, Peter F.9.25MBA9/16/2006Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American MealSchlosser, Eric9.25NONFI3/7/2002Nineteen Eighty-FourOrwell, George9.25SF&F2/20/20071491: New Revelations of the Americas Before ColumbusMann, Charles C.9.25NONFI8/18/2001Perdido Street StationMieville, China9.25SF&F5/11/2001CryptonomiconStephenson, Neal9.25SF&F8/15/2006Day of the Triffids, TheWyndham, John9.25SF&F9/27/2004Nazi Conscience, TheKoonz, Claudia9.50NONFICT8/12/2001Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling, TheBurke, Edmund R. (Ph.D.) and Ed Pavelka9.50NONFICT2/19/2003Corrections, TheFranzen, Jonathan9.50FICT6/21/2004Four Short Novels (Hugo Nominee)Haldeman, Joe9.50SF&F5/1/1999Instance of the Fingerpost, AnPears, Iain9.50FICT6/14/2006Anansi BoysGaiman, Neil9.50SF&F11/14/2007Joel on SoftwareSpolsky, Joel9.50COMP6/1/2007Genocides, TheDisch, Thomas M.9.50SF&F11/25/2006Eyre Affair, TheFforde, Jasper9.50SF&F9/18/2004Scar, TheMieville, China9.50SF&F4/2/2006Olympus (Sequel to Illium)Simmons, Dan9.50SF&F7/7/2005Death on the Fourth of JulyNeiwert, David A.9.50NONFICT7/2/2005Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a Japanese American CommunityNeiwert, David A.9.50NONFICT8/1/2004Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, TheChabon, Michael9.75FICT1/25/2007Book of Lost Things, TheConnolly, John9.75SF&F5/30/2006At The Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black AmericaDray, Philip10.00NONFI12/20/2003Definitive Guide to SQL Server Performance Optimization, TheJones, Don10.00COMP2/23/2007War With the NewtsCapek, Karel10.00SF&F7/3/1994ArmorSteakley, John10.00SF&F12/24/2007Best Software Writing I, TheSpolsky, Joel10.00COMP7/5/1995Shipping News, TheProulx, E. Annie10.00FICT