I recently had to expand my library space to include another six-foot bookcase, and I stopped for a moment as I was arranging my books to ponder what they said about me.
The two heaviest hitters in my collection are Robert A. Heinlein and David Drake. Robert Jordan runs a distant third, with Frank Herbert, S.M. Stirling, Allen Steele, John Scalzi, David Weber, and John Ringo all vying for the fourth place spot. George R. R. Martin holds a place of honor, despite his relatively few books.
My collection runs to 57% science fiction, 26% fantasy, 14% history, 3% mainstream. Of the science fiction, the bulk of it is military sci-fi, with a few big alternate history titles. The fantasy would all be considered high fantasy (since I’m a snob when it comes to reading fantasy), and the history is either all Roman/Greek history or military history (Ambrose features prominently here). The 3% of the mainstream novels that I have are from authors such as Clancy, Cussler, and Baldacci.
What does that say about me?
- I am a geek. (I guess we already knew that.)
- My two academic loves, science and history, and well represented in my pleasure reading collection.
- The synthesis of history and science fiction (alternate history) is a common theme in my collection.
- I think Heinlein is the epitome of good science fiction.
So what’s in your book collections? What do they say about you?
![Let’s Kill Hitler [HD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hESmStH-L._SL160_.jpg)
Let’s see:
Michael Chrichton
David Drake
Stephen King
Neil Gaiman
Robert Heinlein
George R.R. Martin
Terry Pratchett
Anne Rice
J.K. Rowling
Carl Sagan
John Scalzi
William Shakespeare
Dan Simmons
S.M Stirling
J.R.R Tolkien
and..
Dan Brown (sorry, I really couldn’t justify putting him at the top of my list of authors of which I have multiple books, even if they are pedestrian reading, I still enjoyed the brevity of them)
I’ve got a ton of non-fiction and art books as well. So I would consider myself a ‘well-rounded’ female geek. Although, you can keep the crime/lawyer dramas. John Grisham can kiss my arse.
Rawr!
Kate!! I hope that was a misspell.. Grisham can kill my arce. Should that be kiss???
I want to know what an arce is.
The built-in spell checker in WordPress suggests:
Acre
Ace
Arse
Dan Brown? Really? Did you read “Flight of the Old Dog”?
*embarrassed*
*facepalms*
They have both been submitted to the editor of this page to be fixed. Thanks Blitz. Hey Peter, what is this ‘Crap on Kate day?’
I’ve only read The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons.
My fault. I was thinking Dale Brown. I can’t believe you actually read the pre-digested I wrote on an 8th grade level stuff of Dan Brown.
I’m leaving the mistakes in there for posterity.
Being old school I probably have a bunch you never heard of.
Robert E Howard
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Roger Zelazny
Robert A. Heinlein
Joe Haldeman
A.E. Van Vogt.
Arthur C Clarke
Lin Carter
Glen Cook
Walter Jon Williams
and on and on…. too many to list
Funny thing is I find one I like and stick with them. But there are a LOT I just cant stand to read. I don’t like their style.
And don’t forget the westerns, horror and main stream. Honestly though I never got into the literary mains. Faulkner, Hemingway etc…Those guys put me to sleep.
Looking at my collection I have to say I like escape-ism. I get enough rl in rl
Man.. been a long time since I’ve looked at the few authors I read…
David Eddings
Anne McCaffrey
David Drake (only read his Lord of the Isles series, not the military SF)
Robert Jordan
George R.R. Martin
Terry Pratchett
Steven Brust (I really recommend these as light reading. Funny stuff, good plots.)
Raymond E. Feist
… I think that about sums it up.
jw – Edgar Rice Burroughs is a classic author and I’ve been remiss in not mentioning him before. Are you talking about the Mars books or the Tarzan novels?
durmium – You should really try Northworld by David Drake. In my opinion, its his best work. What would you suggest for Steven Brust if someone were intrigued enough to read him?
All of them. (I think). What can I say. Kinda korny but a lot of good action in them and a different outlook on society than nowadays.
well, the only way to really get most of his books now is in the combination books they released (Book of Jhereg, Book of Taltos, Book of Orca). But the way he wrote them isn’t really the best way to read them… I’d recommend starting with Taltos, Athyra, Jhereg.. I can’t remember the whole order off of the top of my head. But ya, it’s a good series.