Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2011

Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Pics (According to NPR)

If it's published on NPR, it's official.  The top 100 speculative fiction books ever, as determined by 60,000 NPR listeners, are listed at this link.  With trepidation, we shall look to the list and attempt to analyze and fill the holes in our education.
Predictably, the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy tops the list.  In second is a polar opposite to Tolkein's master piece: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Sprinkled through the list are true genre classics (1984, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstein) alongside a hefty dose of novels recently adapted to the big screen (Stardust, The Road, I Am Legend, The Time Traveler's Wife).  Given NPR's knowledgeable  and generally grounded audience, none of that is much of a surprise.
It was to my geeky glee, then, that I discovered personal favorites such as I, Robot and The Princess Bride listed in the top twenty.  The beautifully written but little known (and overtly Christian) Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis landed squarely at the bottom of the list.
On the recommendations of readers all over the US, I've added a few titles to my own literary bucket list, including The Eyre Affair, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and Neverwhere.
Agree or disagree with the pics?  Comment away.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Reading List: What Rin is Reading

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I tried to make it better with the Teenage Liberation Handbook review, and Kat posted a wonderful music review soon after.  But I thought I'd update you about my reading habits, in case you were interested (or just bored).  If and when I post reviews, I'll edit this and link to the articles for you.

Non-Fiction:

Do Hard Things by Alex and Bret Harris (*****/5)
How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World by Jordan Christie (****/5)
The Bible by God (it makes me happy every time I get to type, "by God" like that.  Any way, veryone should read it, although you might not want to take it on Genesis straight to Revelation your first time. *****/5)
The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (*****/5)
Mere Christianity by C S Lewis (*****/5)


Fiction:

The Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradly
*The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (****/5 stars)
*The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag (****/5)

The Sword in the Stone by T H White (not yet finished)
The War of the Worlds by H G Wells (****/5)
The Secret Sharer & Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (not yet finished)