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?

  1. I am a geek.  (I guess we already knew that.)
  2. My two academic loves, science and history, and well represented in my pleasure reading collection.
  3. The synthesis of history and science fiction (alternate history) is a common theme in my collection.
  4. I think Heinlein is the epitome of good science fiction.

So what’s in your book collections?  What do they say about you?