Select Filters... All Books To Be Read Available Permanent Collection Reserved Travelling Wishlist Pre-Numbered

Recent Book Activity

---

Click here for Mutts shelter stories.

---

I read some children's literature with and for children or simply because I missed it the first time around. The rest is usually science fiction, mysteries, or nonfiction. I read for interest, not edification. I also read about one book-length collection of science fiction per month, as well as a daily dose of online science news. I'm reading fewer newspapers and more online sources.

---

Books read in 2013:

• Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey
  

Books read in 2012:

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
  
• Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
  
• Grass for His Pillow by Lian Hearn
  
• The Harsh Cry of the Heron by Lian Hearn
  
• Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
  
• A Play of Heresy by Margaret Fraser
  
• In the Frame by Dick Francis (re-read)
  
• Nerve by Dick Francis (re-read)
  
• For Kicks by Dick Francis (re-read)
  
• The Anything Box by Zenna Henderson (re-read)
  
• The People: No Different Flesh by Zenna Henderson (re-read)
  
• Betrayer (First Contact 11) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
  
• Hawks and Owls by Chris G. Earley
  
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi (science fiction) [re-read]
  
• The Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (science fiction) [re-read]
  
• Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler (science fiction)
  
• The Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (science fiction)
  
• Hot Money by Dick Francis
  
• A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm by Edwin Way Teale (nature)
  

Books read in 2011:

• Proof by Dick Francis (re-read)
  
• The Evolution Man (humour)
  
• Birds: 185 Families (nature)
  
• Tales Before Tolkien (fantasy)
  
• Longshot y Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
  
• Shattered by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
  
• Deliverer (First Contact 9) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
  
• Conspirator (First Contact 10) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
  

Books read in 2010:

1. For Us, the Living by Robert A. Heinlein (science fiction)
   
2. Real Mummies Don't Bleed by Susan Whitcher (children's)
   
3. A Million Open Doors by John Barnes (science fiction)
   
4. Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin (science fiction)
   
5. The Best of Eric Frank Russell (science fiction)
   
6. The Graveyard by Neill Gaiman (children's)
   
7. Someplace to be Flying by Charles De Lint (fantasy)
   
8. Stephen Hawking's Universe (science) by John Boslough
   
9. The Day of the Triffids (science fiction) by John Wyndham [re-read]
   
10. The Kraken Wakes (science fiction) by John Wyndham [re-read]
    
11. The Chrysalids (science fiction) by John Wyndham [re-read]
    
12. Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse 1) (fantasy) by Charlaine Harris
    
13. My Parents Are Sex Maniacs (young adult) by Robyn Harding
    
14. The Pendragon Banner (Bone Pedlar 2) (historical fiction) by Silvian Hamilton
    
15. No Room in the Ark (outdoor & nature) by Alan Moorehead
    
16. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
    

Books read in 2009:

1. The English Gentleman's Wife by Douglas Sutherland (humor)
   
2. When I Was Your Age by Joan Malerba-Foran (families & parenting)
   
3. Old Man's War by John Scalzi (science fiction)
   
4. Blood Bank by Tanya Huff (science fiction)
   
5. Tracking by David R. Palmer (science fiction)
   
6. Heart of Valor by Tanya Huff (science fiction)
   
7. Year's Best SF 10 edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (science fiction) [re-read]
   
8. ReVisions, edited by Julie E. Czerneda & Isaac Szpindel (science fiction) [re-read]
   
9. The Del Rey Book of Fantasy and Science Fiction: 16 original stories (science fiction)
   
10. Hunter of Worlds by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction) [re-read]
    
11. Confessions of a French Baker by Peter Mayle & Gerard Auzet (cooking, food & wine)
    
12. Universe 15 edited by Terry Carr (science fiction) [re-read]
    
13. Wake by Robert J. Sawyer (science fiction)
    
14. Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8 edited by Michael Moorcock (science fiction)
    
15. The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
    
16. Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke (science fiction)
    
17. First Contacts by Murray Leinster (science fiction)
    
18. Explorer (First Contact 6) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
    
19. Destroyer (First Contact 7) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
    
20. Dead Heat by Dick Francis & Felix Francis (mystery) [re-read]
    
21. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers (mystery) [re-read]
    
22. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (science fiction)
    
23. Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction 8: Monsters edited by Isaac Asimov (science fiction)
    
24. Year's Best SF 3 edited by David G. Hartwell (science fiction)
    
25. For Kicks (mystery) [re-read]
    
26. Enquiry (mystery) [re-read]
    
27. Catfantastic: Nine Lives and Fifteen Tales (fantasy) [re-read]
    
28. Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction: Curses edited by Isaac Asimov (science fiction)
    
29. Man-Kzin Wars VI inspired by Larry Niven (science fiction)
    
30. Pretender (First Contact 8) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
    
31. Rat Race by Dick Francis (mystery)
    
32. The Flight of the Swan by Elizabeth Webster (romance)
    
33. The Sleep Thieves by Stanley Coren (nonfiction)
    
34. Flying Finish by Dick Francis [re-read] (mystery)
    
35. Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler (science fiction)
    
36. Great Feuds in Medicine by Hal Hellman (science)
    
37. Slay Ride by Dick Francis (mystery)
    
38. Witch Repair (Children's)
    
39. Climbing Mount Improbable: The Forty-fold Path to Vision by Richard Dawkins (science)
    
40. The Lilac Bus (stories) by Maeve Binchy (fiction)
    
41. Vampire Bugs: Stories Conjured from the Past by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (Children's)
    
42. Tomorrow, the Stars (stories) edited by Robert A. Heinlein (science fiction)
    
43. Past Imperfect (stories) edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Harry Seagriff (science fiction)
    
44. Never Pick Up Hitchhikers! by Ellis Peters (mystery)
    
45. A Teacup in a Storm: An Explorer's Guide to Life by Mike Conefrey (nonfiction)
    
46. A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing (quotations)
    
47. Astounding (stories) edited by Harry Harrison (science fiction)
    
48. Turning the Grain (science fiction)
    

These have been moved to my personal blog:

• Books read in 2008
  
• Books read in 2007
  
• Books read in 2006

My current project is to read more by Carl Zimmer and finish collecting everything by Dick Francis.

---

Modern classics in fiction:

• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  
• Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
  
• The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
  
• The Children of Llyr by Evangeline Walton
  
• The Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle
  
• The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers
  
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
  
• The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
  
• Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
  
• Anne of Green Gables by L. Maud Montgomery

Enjoyable fiction books:

• Excession by Iain M. Banks
  
• Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers (mystery)
  
• The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
  
• This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
  
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James
  
• Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh
  
• Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
  
• Bellwether by Connie Willis
  
• The Fur Person by May Sarton
  
• Faded Sun Trilogy: Kesrith/Shon'jir/Kutath by C. J. Cherryh
  
• Morgaine Saga 1 - 3: Gate of Ivrel/Well of Shiuan/Fires of Azeroth and Exile's Gate by C. J. Cherryh
  
• The Lunatic Cafe and its precursors & sequels up to Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton
  
• The Ladies of Mandrigyn and its sequels by Barbara Hambly
  
• Those Who Hunt the Night and its sequel by Barbara Hambly
  
• The Time of the Dark and its sequels by Barbara Hambly
  
• The Silent Tower and its sequels by Barbara Hambly
  
• Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly
  
• Stranger at the Wedding by Barbara Hambly
  
• Valor's Choice and its sequel by Tanya Huff
  
• Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll
  
• The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
  
• Wild Horses by Dick Francis
• Come to Grief by Dick Francis
• The Sky So Big and Black by John Barnes
  
• Finity by John Barnes
  
• Cat Encounters edited by Sean Manley and Gogo Lewis

Modern classics in nonfiction:

• Flash in the Pan, Ginger Tea Makes Friends, and Fear of Frying by James Barber
  
• The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler
  
• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information and Visual Explanations by Edward R. Tufte
  
• The Modern Researcher by Jacques Barzun & Henry F. Graff
  
• Great Speechesby Abraham Lincoln
  
• Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
  
• In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall
  
• The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill
  
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, John Sherrill, & Elizabeth Sherrill
  
• The Way of Zen by Alan W. Watts
  
• The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner
  
• Man Meets Dog by Konrad Lorenz
  
• Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes
  
• The Medusa and the Snail and other books of essays by Lewis Thomas
  
• Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould
  
• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
  
• The Lost World of the Kalahari by Laurens van der Post
  
• At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs by Carl Zimmer
  
• Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer
  

Excellent nonfiction books:

• Fallacies of Creationism by Willard Young
  
• Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
  
• The Food Lover's Garden by Angelo M. Pellegrini
  
• The Illustrated Book of Food Plants by S. G. Harrison, G. B. Masefield, & Michael Wallis
  
• The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts
  
• The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior by David Allen Sibley
  
• Mushrooms in Color by Orson K. Miller Jr. & Hope H. Miller
  
• The Harrowsmith Cookbook and its sequels by editors & readers of Harrowsmith magazine
  
• Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte
  
• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
  
• Dinosaur in a Haystack and other books of essays by Stephen Jay Gould
  
• Kingdom of the Octopus by Frank W. Lane
  
• Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich
  
• The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
  
• Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea by Carl Zimmer
  
• The Secret of Life by Joseph Levine & David Suzuki
  
• Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion and the Battle for America's Soul by Edward Humes
  
• God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
  
• Evolution's Captain: the Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World by Peter Nichols
  
• The Best American Science Writing 2007, edited by Gina Kolata
  
• Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
  
• Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
  

---

How to solve cryptic crosswords.

Favourite book review: The Beak of the Finch

---

A book might be available—if I can find it: many of my books are in boxes. If you see a "permanent collection" book that you want to trade for, perhaps I can help you to find a copy.

I am slow to mail things out but I haven't forgotten you! If you think I have forgotten, plese send me an e-mail reminder.

---

In this list:
- (ed.) is editor
- (ill.) is illustrator
- (tr.) is translator
- (a) means autographed
- (f) means that I think it's a first edition
- z drops books about a specific technology (some of which I've written) to the end of its category, if you use alphabetical order

Story lengths in science fiction:
- Vignette is less than 4 pages or 1,000 words (abbreviation "vi")
- Short story is 4-20 pages or 1,000-7,499 words (abbreviation "ss")
- Novelette is 21-45 pages or 7,500-17,499 words (abbreviation "nv")
- Novella is 46-100 pages or 17,500-39,999 words (abbreviation "na")
- Novel is more than 100 pages or 40,000 words (abbreviation "n")

In non-fiction:
- A monograph is under 10,000 words.

---

Science news:
- Wrathful Dispersion theory in linguistics
- oldest complex fossils are found in Newfoundland, Canada
- Clear evolutionary transition for whales

---

If this page loads too slowly, use the plain text version. You can return to the more styled version here.


Free Hit Counter: hits since 28 July 2007