Science Fiction's Best Books

[Patrick]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Hard to Be a God
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds

[Jim]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer
Damnation Alley Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
by Neal Stephenson
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon

[C. John]

Can someone tell me why the list in message 303 is shorter than the list in 302.

[mark, personal space invader]

Jim may have made an error? perhaps he put his own list in there. easily fixed, on the very next post...

[mark, personal space invader]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon

[C. John]

Thanks.

[Joe]

Of everything on these lists, I only read Stand On Zanzibar twice. This is a great list nonetheless. But... too much other new reading to do.

[Brandon]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn

[LindaJ^]

I had not looked at this thread for a while and it has grown. By my account, we now have 102 books on it by 74 different authors. So glad that Jemisin was added, as I think her trilogy is the best new sci fi I have read. I have not read any sci fi recently but am now inspired to get back to working on this list.

[mark, personal space invader]

It's a great list! And it has been useful to me as well.

[Dan]

I wanted to nominate the first book on the list I have not yet read, but I note Stand on Zanzibar was read by the group eight short years ago. Funny, I've only read one Brunner work, his short story in Dangerous Visions. Now that last one is a book that should be on our list!

I'll vote from among the choices already nominated since I see several I'd love to read.

[Chris]

I guess I’d nominate ...”Diaspora” by Greg Egan,
(only because I think he is a bit less well known than “Consider Phlebas” by Iain M Banks. )

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Have we readThe Weapon Shops of Isher?

If not I'll nominate it.

[Phil]

I have read most of the books on the above list, but those I have not read, The Many-Coloured Land by May I have had on my TBR shelf for ages, so I guess I'll nominate it. Will be happy to reread most of the listed books, however.

[Dan]

This is not the nomination thread. I was wondering where my post had disappeared to. Bwahahaha.

[Peter]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn
This Immortal - Roger Zelazny

[Peter]

Dan wrote: "I wanted to nominate the first book on the list I have not yet read, but I note Stand on Zanzibar was read by the group eight short years ago. Funny, I've only read one Brunner work, h..."

All Brunner is worth reading.

I'd recommend 'The Shockwave Rider', 'The Crucible of Time' or 'The Sheep Look Up'

[Judy]

I keep meaning to add to this list, so finally added one.

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn
This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

[C. John]

Haven't counted but this is getting to be a pretty long list.

[C. John]

This appears to be a pretty long list at this point. Mind you we have somewhere over 2,000 members so if each of the members nominated a book this would be one very long list. Probably won't happen, though it would be interested to see if it did.

[Judy]

It's a good list. I've been reading Sci fi for 50 years, and many of my favorites are on the list. I copied the list to save on my computer for future reference.

[C. John]

There are books on the list I would like to have, some I would like to read but not necessarily own, and some that are of no interest. I think that is usually the case with these lists. Wonder how many of these books appear on various University course curriculums.

[Kim]

E A M Harris wrote: "So many people name Dune, but I've never managed to get past the first couple of pages. It would go on my list of 'Books not to bother with'."

I hear your pain. I struggled with it, too. The first fifty pages build the culture of Dune and, without it, the book would fall flat (IMHO). That's the hard thing for any SciFi author to do - set the stage (establish the culture) for the story without dumping a ton of narration on the reader (which puts me to sleep).

All that said, DUNE is one of my favorites.

Cheers and Regards,
Kim

[Kim]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer
Damnation Alley Roger Zelazny
Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey

[Richard]

Kim wrote: "Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Cl..."

Kim, you seem to have added Leviathan Wakes but lost everything after Damnation Alley. Could be my iPad glitching, could you have a look at your post, it would be a shame to lose all those great recs.

[C. John]

I took a look in case Kim doesn't get on here soon. Yeah everything did disappear. Going to try and fix it.

[C. John]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn
This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers
Leviathan Wakes -James S. A. Corey

I think that is the list with everything on it, including Kim's addition.

[Gary]

Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner
Dune - Frank Herbert
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr.
The Rediscovery of Man - Cordwainer Smith
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Frysepunket (English title: Freezing Down) - Anders Bodelsen
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh
Stardance - Spider and Jeanne Robinson
The Mote in Gods Eye - Niven/Pournelle
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
The Warrior's Apprentice - Lois McMaster Bujold
Gateway - Frederik Pohl
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Consider Phlebas - Iain Banks
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Adiamante - L.E. Modesitt Jr.
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein
Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Startide Rising - David Brin
To Your Scattered Bodies Go - Phillip Jose Farmer
Ringworld - Larry Niven
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Paradox Men - Charles L. Harness
Voyage of the Space Beagle - A.E. van Vogt
Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Cities in Flight - James Blish
Schismatrix - Bruce Sterling
The City and The Stars - Arthur C. Clarke
The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
Glimpses - Lewis Shiner
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
The Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Dying Inside- Robert Silverberg
The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
The Engines of God - McDevitt
War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Nineteen Eighty-Four(1984) - George Orwell
The Gone-Away World - Nick Harkaway
The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolfe
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
When Gravity Fails- George Alec Effinger
The Drowned World - J.G. Ballard
Blindsight - Peter Watts
Red Moon - David S. Michaels
Tower of Glass - Robert Silverberg
Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
Carve the Sky - Alexander Jablokov
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
Nexus - Ramez Naam
Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon
Crystal Singer - Anne McCaffrey
The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri S. Tepper
Children of the Lens - E. E. "Doc" Smith
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Snow Queen- Joan Vinge
Thirteen (Th1rte3n) - Richard K. Morgan
Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward
Golden Witchbreed by Mary Gentle
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi
The Many-Coloured Land - Julian May
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Legends of Earth - A. A. Attanasio
The Weapon Shops of Isher - A E van Vogt
City - Clifford Simak
The Martian - Andy Weir
Hard to Be a God - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Into the Gap - Stephen Donaldson
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn
This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers
Leviathan Wakes -James S. A. Corey
Tau Zero - Poul Anderson

[C. John]

Tau Zero is one of Poul Anderson's books I haven't yet read. Shall have to correct that oversight. This is turning out to be a pretty decent list, though of course some will wonder how such and such a book made it onto here.

[Mickey]

Aloisious wrote: "Well, lets see if we can rejuvenate this formerly popular topic?.."

Rejuvenate?
I believe nothing is going to rejuvenate Goodreads. It has gone downhill ever since Amazon purchased it. Same with twitter and many other social networks run by mega corporations.

My other groups are barely posting. I sometimes wonder why I have not deleted the app and link to this website. I have already backed up my books and reviews.

[C. John]

Although not happy with some of the changes to Goodreads I have no intention of leaving. I enjoy the company of the various groups I have joined, though admittedly the DC Comics group seems to have died, but then I think it was dying when I joined it.

[mark, personal space invader]

Aloisious wrote: "..."

I have deleted this off-topic comment. Please follow rules about self-promotion and use the appropriate area for such posts, thanks.

[mark, personal space invader]

Mickey wrote: "I believe nothing is going to rejuvenate Goodreads. It has gone downhill ever since Amazon purcha..."

Indeed! the good old days are long gone. this group is barely active. but I still find this thread to be a valuable resource. as you have noted yourself at one point Mickey, in some ways the lists & conversations here are timeless - they don't have to be current to have relevance, if folks want to read various thoughts on the topics & books discussed. much like reading old reviews, on Goodreads & elsewhere.

I do miss the days of discussion though!

[Adrian]

mark wrote: "Indeed! the good old days are long gone. this group is barely active. but I still find this thread to be a valuable resource. as you have noted yourself at one point Mickey, in some ways the lists & conversations here are timeless.

I do miss the days of discussion though! ..."

As you said Mark its a great list regardless, just a shame that so few books have been added in the last 5 years or so.
This was probably the group I spent most time "in" for a number of years (5-9 years ago) and I keep checking back to see if members monthly pick has been revived ha ha. But sadly not !

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

it is sad....but its a lot of work, and after amazon took over Goodreads, a lot of people stopped participating as much. Sometimes life takes you in directions that make it hard to justify the time....



If anyone is interested in hosting, by all means message me and we can talk about it

[Adrian]

Maggie wrote: "it is sad....but its a lot of work, and after amazon took over Goodreads, a lot of people stopped participating as much. Sometimes life takes you in directions that make it hard to justify the time..."

I was always very thankful and appreciative for all the work that you and fellow moderators put in. You created a great atmosphere in which to read and express ones thoughts over a number of years.
Unfortunately despite retiring I don't seem to have any extra time at all so would be unable to take on any role, but I would certainly participate if anything got re-vitalised.

[mark, personal space invader]

One of these days I'm just going to use the Monthly Group Read as a way to track my thoughts on whichever science fiction novel I'm reading that month. And if anyone joins me, all the better!

The problem for me was steep decrease in book discussion posts, despite members voting on books and books chosen that won a poll majority.

Although I don't know where I even get the nerve complaining - Maggie has always done at least three-quarters of the labor here. LOL Thanks & sorry, Maggie!

[Mickey]

Although I have my personal reasons for not reading as much. I believe the real reason is the world has changed and the demise of Goodreads and platforms like it.

I was raised where there were book stores in every mall, store front ,mail order book clubs, every school and city had a decent library. Today is different, the bookstores are disappearing, public libraries are no longer in every city and are becoming large county libraries. Getting to a bookstore or library is getting more difficult. Public transportation is getting smaller, many rural areas reject public transportation in order to keep outsiders out and taxes low. Therefore getting a good book to read was getting harder and harder.

Amazon changed the way we buy books and where brick and mortar stores are gone. I find a large percentage of people, especially the older generation are not technologically proficient. One needs to be comfortable with technology and have a credit card. If you don’t have a credit card, you are not going to find a book to read.

I am comfortable with technology as I have a degree in computer science. I am also comfortable with reading from digital tablets. Reading a book from a cellphone is a royal pain. As one who used to have a house with a small personal library of over one thousand books that I collected over my entire life. Yes, I even still had my old Dr. Seuss books I had as a child. Today my personal library is gone, maintenance of such a home is getting harder as I get older. When the time comes, I can pack up and move to a smaller place in less than a week. I now have over a thousand digital books in the cloud and all are backed up. I also subscribe to digital newspapers and magazines. No longer do I have magazines and newspapers delivered to my home on daily or weekly basis. When I was twelve years old, I had a paper route, almost everyone everyone received a daily newspaper on my daily route, today it is very rare for anyone to read a daily newspaper.

I also believe people are getting dumber by the day. Because they do not have the means to find a good book. When I was growing up, books, newspapers and magazines were everywhere one turned. Across the street where I went to grade school, there was a corner store that had a soda fountain, a candy counter and a rack of comic books. I had a paper route and could afford a malt and a comic book every now and then.

Today it is much much harder for a young child, teenager or adult to find a good book.

[Nicolai Alexander]

Mickey wrote: "Although I have my personal reasons for not reading as much. I believe the real reason is the world has changed and the demise of Goodreads and platforms like it.

I was raised where there were boo..."

Hello, I hope it’s okay that I join in on the conversation! I just wholeheartedly agree with what you said. In addition to that, online video content and social media culture might have a debilitating effect on literacy, patience and information processing for many people. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the fast paced density of various stuff online, and reading a book is therefore not as easy as it once was. A book is this one big thing full of information. To a lot of people, that might feel like a massive undertaking and a lot of effort. To them, it’s probably much easier to just go through the easier motions and the simpler notions, which feels instantly rewarding. Their brain is adjusted/conditioned to that.

I get it. It’s not always easy to read books in general, though, and the reward is often not instant. I personally find it enjoyable to take my time with something and to be challenged intellectually by reading a book. And to learn a lot and increase my capacity for imagination and empathy. Scrolling through feeds and stuff like that just won’t provide those experiences. I believe I reap an even greater, more personal, even deeper, more powerful reward by reading a book. But a lot of people may not be aware of that potential. You need to be aware of that in the first place and actively choose to spend time with books. It has to be a conscious decision and a singular effort has to be made. And some people need a community who does the same.

[Dan]

On the alleged decline in reading assumed by posters of message 339 and 340, or that it's harder to acquire reading material these days, I could not disagree more. There was never more than 5-10 percent of the public who read for pleasure. Not in 1900, not in 1950, 1980, and not now. There has been a constant 5-10 percent of people who like to read, I believe, since about 1820 or so, maybe even earlier.

If you're intelligent enough to like to read for pleasure, you can (and probably do) handle the technology involved in having an eBook. It's just not that difficult. Obtaining reading material one would want to read has never been easier than it is today. Two decades ago I could not have imagined I could pull up virtually any best-selling book or widely popular science fiction magazine in their entirety online and just start reading.

Want to read any fiction John W. Campbell Jr. ever wrote? You can. Immediately. For free. I know because I started to read Campbell's stories one by one a couple months ago in published chronological order, the way they appeared in their original published setting, illustrations and all. Five or six stories in I realized I didn't much care for his writing style--he doesn't seem to have a clear concept of what a reader needs or wants to know, or believes he already told a reader stuff he never did--and so I stopped reading him. But I could have continued and read everything he ever published if I had wanted to. Every issue of every science fiction magazine he ever published in, and there are about a dozen different ones, is reproduced and available for free on the internet. His stories, every one of them, can be read on a laptop screen or transferred to a personal eReader very easily. Want to read everything Clifford Simak ever wrote? Same story. Probably more than 60% of everything Ray Bradbury ever wrote--available for free.

More recent authors need to make a living from their work. So less of their stuff is available for free. That's understandable. But it's still very easy to acquire fast, and a lot less expensive than buying a paper book.

In short, it has never been easier than it is now for anyone who wants to to read anything they want to. And I am confident that trend is only going to continue. If you're not reading, it's because you don't want to, not that you can't be.

[Dan]

mark wrote: "One of these days I'm just going to use the Monthly Group Read as a way to track my thoughts on whichever science fiction novel I'm reading that month. And if anyone joins me, all the better!

The problem for me was steep decrease in book discussion posts, despite members voting on books and books chosen that won a poll majority."

That's what I do in the one group I am sole moderator of. You really don't need to worry about others' participation that much, I find, unless you choose to. No one else but me is reading the current month's book in that group, for example. So we have the sound of one hand clapping when I post about it as a result.

The members voting on books and choosing one that you don't want to read problem: you know how I solve that? I just don't read the book. It can still be group read of the month without me reading it. You have an even easier solution in this group because there is more than one moderator. Don't like the book the members voted for? Just select one of the other moderators to host the read!

The only real challenge is, do you read at least one science fiction book per month every month?

[Maggie, space cruisin' for a bruisin']

mark wrote: "One of these days I'm just going to use the Monthly Group Read as a way to track my thoughts on whichever science fiction novel I'm reading that month. And if anyone joins me, all the better!

The ..."

hahahaa it all worked out with my OCD issues )No, I do not have ocd, I just like symmetry)

[Mickey]

Dan wrote: "On the alleged decline in reading assumed by posters of message 339 and 340, or that it's harder to acquire reading material these days, I could not disagree more. There was never more than 5-10 pe..."

More than assumed:
Google search can find many many surveys and polls indicating literary reading is on the decline. I tried Google search to find polls and surveys where reading was on the increase, good luck in finding those surveys.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/388541/a...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...

Yes, there are many many free ebooks on line, mostly old books. In PDF form that many e reader’s cannot download them. One can download apps in which authors download freely new books that they have just written., like the Wattpad app.

However, one has to search for them, have expensive tablets. Yea, I had a cheap Kindle in the past and I considered it not as nice as my $1000 iPad Pro loaded with memory and can view color images (Great option for cookbooks, not so great for black & white only readers). The cheap kindle I had had no internet search or download capability to get those free eBook from websites. Desktop computers are not cheap either, let alone the cost of a decent internet connection. Many rural areas does not have any low cost or high speed internet to get those free ebooks.

Again in the past, one did not have to search for books, they were everywhere and cheap paperbacks were often then under $2, no electronic reader needed.

[C. John]

Oh god, I can remember going into our local "smoke shop" and purchasing new something from the paperback rack for the grand price of fifty cents. I got my first Fu Manchu novel that way (Mask of Fu Manchu for the record). Of course that was when a comic book was only 12 cents, 25 cents if it was one of the larger ones.
Oh yes, smoke shop wasn't the official name of the store. We kids called it that because it was one of the few places in town where one could buy cigarettes and such.

[C. John]

Oh and if anyone is interested in reading older Science Fiction, and other pulp magazines try the site Comic Book Plus. The are in CBR format but that won't matter if you just read them without downloading them. I have been reading a couple of items there, an issue of Air Wonder Stories and an issue of The Thriller Library, which features a story by Leslie Charteris featuring The Saint. Only problem is since they aren't sitting beside me like a regular book I have to remember them.
And if anyone is interested I know of another site where you can download issues of old magazines, not just pulps, and old English story papers. There are also lot of comic books. Warning though, the person in charge, due to time constraints is only maintaining and adding to the British Comics site. If interested I can post one of the IRL's.

[Dan]

I looked around and agree: I was mistaken on there being no decline in reading for pleasure. Apparently there has been a steep one since the 1980s in both children and adults. That really surprises me. As a population we have more leisure time than ever. What a shame.

It's also never been easier to acquire higher quality fiction so cheaply. And by cheaply, I mean most of it free if it's more than 70 years old. Much of it free if it's 30-70 years old. Or very cheap if you buy the eBook. Example: Gerald's Game (can't find this book easily on GoodReads) hardback price in 1992 was $23.50. eBook price today: $13.99. Paperback price new in 1993 was only $6.99, which seems low to me for such a thick book. It's free on Internet Archive and available for less than $5 shipping and tax included currently in the used book market. My county library system has copies available too.

Best site for reading old science fiction magazines is http://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/ and Internet Archive. And I have no trouble downloading pdf files to my eReader. I do it all the time when there is no other format available.

[Mickey]

Dan wrote: "I looked around and agree: I was mistaken on there being no decline in reading for pleasure. Apparently there has been a steep one since the 1980s in both children and adults. That really surprises..."

I have other views on why people are reading less. It is the lopsided population caused by the Boomers. If I read correctly about the population of the U.S. and I could be wrong on this one: Currently 1 in 5 people is over 65 years old. Projections predict in ten years the U.S. 1 in 4 people will be over 75 years old. The U.S. seems to be going in the same direction as Japan. Soon there will not be enough people to take care of the elderly. Also 1 in 5 Boomers children in the U.S. are sterile and cannot have children, believed to be caused from micro plastics like the BPAs. So Boomer’s children are having a difficult time reproducing causing a further decline in population. Along with the Boomers dropping like flies as they get older.

Fewer people means less people reading. Therefore I wonder, are those reading polls taking account of an aging and declining population. As I get older and as a Boomer, I am reading less.

Also, all of my boomer friends are, excuse the Apple computer commercial of yesteryear, are again “Techno-Klutzes”. Non of my boomer friends has a tablet computer or a kindle. I have only one other relative my age that has a tablet computer. I am the only family member that has a tablet computer and a kindle.

I also admit, I am the only family member, young and old, that does not, I repeat does not have an Xbox or a Sony PlayStation. I do have an Apple TV box with a wireless game controller, but rarely use it, no where near as good as an Xbox or PlayStation.

This my unprofessional opinion and could be wrong on this.

[Nicolai Alexander]

You guys make some good points. I guess we could safely assume that there are several different factors contributing to the decline in reading.

Although how much the decline is and which factors contribute to it may vary from country to country. I don't think the decline has been all that bad here in Norway. It seems like we had a decline in the 90's, and then we actually had an increase since then. Right now, I think we're at about 25% of the population on average who reads a book every day, and most parents read out loud for their kids.

I guess it depends how many and what kind of people they ask. Another question is: What's a good number? How many is enough? How often should people read? Does it matter what you read?

[Mickey]

To be honest, I don’t really read for entertainment anymore. I read and try to offset dementia in my old age. I also study math (vector calculus) and physics (basic mechanics level). Some Gardening and Cooking.

[C. John]

My youngest son (second child overall) has ADHD and in elementary school was never much of a reader. On of the teachers did work on it with him and felt there had been progress. A few years ago he started high school (he graduated this year). He walked into our bedroom one day and some how it came out that he had just finished reading a book my wife had read. It was a very thick fantasy novel. After we both congratulated him on reading it he remarked that the books in the high school library were more interesting than the books in the elementary school library. So maybe part of the problem is with the books kids can choose to read from when they are younger. I do recall when I was his age I was annoyed that I couldn't select books from the adult section of the library but was confined to the children's section.