Book Recommendations
From SWILwiki
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Why this might be a good idea
So I finally discovered that there does exist a SWIL server folder, albeit very, very secretly. Among other things, it contained a list of "Books I Would Like to Read Again for the First Time," which seemed like a terribly good and wiki-ful idea. Also, they might be useful books to nominate for the Cordwainer Bird Library and/or George, though that nomination list is... elsewhere. ~ Jillian
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Favorite Books
(seeded by the above-mentioned ReallyOldFile, which is from '86)
| Title | Author | Nominated by | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Chronicles of Narnia | C. S. Lewis | Julie Love | |
| Till We Have Faces | C. S. Lewis | Arthur Chu | The best fantasy he ever wrote. |
| Think Like a Dinosaur | James Patrick Kelly | Arthur Chu | Story-for-story my favorite single-author collection. |
| Kirinyaga | Mike Resnick | Arthur Chu | |
| The Phantom Tollbooth | Norton Juster | Jim Moskowitz, Hal Pomeranz | |
| Stand on Zanzibar | John Brunner | Shoshanna Green | |
| The Inquestor Trilogy | Somtow Sucharitkul | Shoshanna Green | |
| Vampire Junction | S. Sucharitkul as S. P. Somtow | Shoshanna Green | |
| The Barbie Murders, also published as Picnic on Nearside | John Varley | JimMoskowitz | |
| The Chronicles of Amber | Roger Zelazny | Hal Pomeranz | |
| The Mote in God's Eye, et al. | Larry Niven | Charles Danforth | |
| The Shockwave Rider | John Brunner | Ellen Sasse | |
| Enchantress From the Stars and its sequel | Sylvia Louise Engdahl | Ellen Sasse | not the kind of dreck you expect from the title |
| The Door into Summer | Heinlein | Ellen Sasse | |
| Escape to Witch Mountain | Alexander Key | Ellen Sasse | |
| Pilgrimage: The Book of the People | Zenna Henderson | Jed Hartman | |
| Doorways in the Sand | Roger Zelazy | John Beale, Hal Pomeranz | |
| The Lord of the Rings | J. R. R. Tolkein | Katehelen McIntosh | of course |
| Lord Foul's Bane et al. | Donaldson | Katehelen McIntosh | |
| A Wrinkle in Time | Madeleine L'Engle | Diana Stiefbold | |
| The White Mountains et al. | John Christopher | Diana Stiefbold | |
| The Last Unicorn | Peter S. Beagle | Jed Hartman | |
| Stepping From the Shadows | P. A. McKillip | Jed Hartman | |
| almost anything | Christopher Stasheff | Hal Pomeranz | |
| Operation Chaos | Poul Anderson | Alex Weirich | |
| The Mabinogion | get the Charlotte Guest translation | ||
| Thieves' World 1-6 | Robert Asprin et al. | ||
| Here Be Dragons | Sharon Key Penman | ||
| The Mists of Avalon | Marion Zimmer Bradley | ||
| Startide Rising | David Brin | Jim Moskowitz | 1984 Hugo |
| Dreamsnake | Vonda McIntyre | ||
| Dune | Frank Herbert | ||
| Lord Valentine's Castle | Robert Silverberg | ||
| Contact | Carl Sagan | ||
| almost anything | James P. Hogan | A. G. Hirai | |
| A Fire Upon the Deep | Vernor Vinge | Jeff Kaufman | |
| The Peacewar and Marooned in Realtime | Vernor Vinge | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Snow Crash | Neil Stephenson | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Footfall | Larry Niven | BlakeSetlow | Very good hard sci-fi. |
| The Integral Trees | Larry Niven | ||
| Ringworld et al. | Larry Niven | ||
| Steel Beach | John Varley | Charles Danforth | |
| Gojiro | Mark Jacobson | Arthur Chu | Postmodern, gonzo, beautiful. |
| The Hitchhiker Trilogy | Douglas Adams | Jillian Waldman | |
| The Princess Bride | William Goldman | Jillian Waldman | |
| Sister Light, Sister Dark | Jane Yolen | Jillian Waldman | |
| The Persistence of Vision | John Varley | David Szent-Gyorgyi | Full of ideas, compelling characters. Title novella won Hugo and Nebula |
| Blue Champagne | John Varley | David Szent-Gyorgyi | Follow-on to The Persistence of Vision. One winner of Hugo and Nebula, one Hugo winner, one Hugo nominee, one Nebula nominee |
| Little, Big | John Crowley | David Szent-Gyorgyi | World Fantasy Award winner. |
| Eyes of Amber | Joan D. Vinge | David Szent-Gyorgyi | Short story collection. Brilliant. |
| The Napoleon of Notting Hill | G. K. Chesterton | David Szent-Gyorgyi | Social criticism, set 80 years after the date of publication (1904) |
| The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Robert Heinlein | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Red Mars | Kim Stanley Robinson | Jillian Waldman |
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Favorite Short Stories
| Title | Author | Nominated by | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balanced Ecology | James Henry Schmitz | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Solution Unsatisfactory | Robert Heinlein | Jeff Kaufman | |
| The Martian Way | Isaac Asimov | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Bully and the Beast | Orson Scott Card | Jeff Kaufman |
