Essential Reading List 2002

Science Fiction

• A Deepness In The Sky, Vernor Vinge
• A Fire Upon The Deep,
• Marooned In Realtime,
• True Names
• Titan, John Varley
• Wizard,
• Demon
• Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
• The Diamond Age
• Zodiac
• Cryptonomicon
• Neuromancer, William Gibson
• Virtual Light
• Idoru

Philosophy of Mathematics

• The Mathematical Experience, Davis & Hersh
• Descartes Dream, Davis and Hersh
• What Is Mathematics Really?, Hersh
• Flatland, Edwinn Abbot

Complexity

• Chaos, James Gleick
• Hidden Order, John Holland

Various Topics

• Adventures Of A Mathematician, S. Ulam
• The Education of a Mathematician, Philip Davis
• My Brain Is Open, Bruce Schechter
• The Revolt of the Angels, Anatole France
• The Discovery Of Heaven, Harry Mulisch
• The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, Paul "I didn't respect Erdos" Hoffman
• Black Holes And Baby Universes, Stephen Hawking
• The Universe In A Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
• The Future of Spacetime, Hawking et al.
• Evil Inside Human Violence And Cruelty, Roy Baumeister

My Essential Reading List 2003

Bertrand Russell

• Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare
• The Scientific Outlook
• Why I Am Not A Christian
• The Conquest of Happiness
• Marriage and Morals

Child Rearing

• Guiding The Gifted Child, Webb, Meckstroth and Tolan
• The Manipulative Child, Swihart and Cotter
• How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Faber and Mazlish

Various

• Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
• Stupid White Men, Michael Moore
• Censored 2001, Philips & Project Censored
• Civil Disobedience and Other Essays, Henry David Thoreau

Biographical

• October Sky, Homer H. Hickam Jr.
• The Prison Diary of Ho Chi Minh, Salisbury (Trans)
2.068638

Classics

• Faust, Goethe
• Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
• The Plague, Albert Camus
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Science Fiction

• Back to the Moon, Homer H. Hickam Jr.
• We, Yevgeny Zamyatin
• Red Thunder, John Varley
• The Sheep Look Up, John Brunner
• The Shockwave Rider, John Brunner

Essential Reading List 2004

Science Fiction

• Wyrms, Orson Scott Card
• The Stone That Never Came Down, John Brunner
• The Book of Ptath, A. E. van Vogt
• Fallen Angels, Niven, Pournelle & Flynn
• The Mote in Go's Eye, Pournelle & Niven
• Gateway, Frederik Pohl
• The Other End of Time, Frederik Pohl
• Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, Frederik Pohl
• Heechee Rendezvous, Frederik Pohl
• The Annals of the Heechee, Frederik Pohl
• Friday, Robert A. Heinlein

Biographical

• True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey
• An Autobiography, M. K. Gandhi
• The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, Louis Fischer

Various

• Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson

Essential Reading List 2005

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Iron Sunrise, Charles Stross
• The Family Trade, Charles Stross
• Pattern Recognition, William Gibson
• The Golden Globe, John Varley
• Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein
• The John Varley Reader, John Varley
• Year's Best Science Fiction 4, Hartwell and Cramer ed
• The World of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt
• The Pawns of Null-A, A. E. van Vogt
• Null-A Three, A. E. van Vogt
• The Weapon Shops of Isher, A. E. van Vogt
• Tyranopolis, A. E. van Vogt
• The Starchild Trilogy, Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson

Various

• An Anthropologist on Mars, Oliver Sacks
• The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks
• The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
• Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer
• One for the Road, Tony Horwitz

Reading List 2006

Historical and Biographical

• A Short History of Ireland, Roger Chauvire
• The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Mangold and Penycate
• Blood on the Wattle, Bruce Elder
• Black Barty, Aubrey Burl
• Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics, James Gleick
• The Missionary Position, Christopher Hitchens
• Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit, Jesse Martin
• Failed States, Noam Chomsky
• Imperial Ambitions, Noam Chomsky
• Marching Powder, Rusty Young
• Why Weren't We Told?, Henry Reynolds
• Razor, Larry Writer

Various

• Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich
• The Intelligent Australian Investor, Chris Leithner
• Working With Monsters, John Clarke
• How to Lose Friends and Infuriate Your Boss, Jonar Nader
• To the Elephant Graveyard, Tarquin Hall
• Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained, David Filkin
• The Riemann Hypothesis: The greatest unsolved problem in mathematics., Karl Sabbagh
• The Female Brain, Louann Brizendine
• The Ethical Slut, Easton and Liszt

Fiction

• Count Zero, William Gibson
• Robots, Dann and Dozois ed.
• All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson
• The Child Garden, Geof Ryman
• Accelerando, Charles Stross
• The Hidden Family, Charles Stross
• Turing's Delirium, Edmundo Paz Soldán
• Rainbow's End, Vernor Vinge
• Red Lightning, John Varley

Reading List 2007

Historical and Biographical

• The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens
• The Music of the Primes, Marcus du Sautoy
• The Salmon of Doubt, Douglas Adams

Various

• The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins
• God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens
• The Large, the Small and the Human Mind, Roger Penrose
• Not Even Wrong, Peter Woit

Fiction

• Burning Chrome, William Gibson
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a trilogy in four parts, Douglas Adams
• Glasshouse, Charles Stross
• My Uncle Oswald, Roald Dahl
• Mammoth, John Varley
• Switch Bitch, Roald Dahl
• The Road, Cormac McCarthy
• Trading in Danger, Elizabeth Moon
• Old Man's War, John Scalzi
• Ophiuchi Hotline, John Varley
• Omega, Jack McDevitt
• Over to You, Roald Dahl
• Idlewild, Nick Sagan
• The Algebraist, Iain Banks
• The Jennifer Morgue, Charles Stross
• The Atrocity Archives, Charles Stross

Reading List 2008

Historical and Biographical

• Between Worlds, Bill Richardson

Various

• Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
• Black Holes and Time Warps, Kip Thorne
• The Future of Success, Robert Reich
• Nemesis, Chalmers Johnson
• Blowback, Chalmers Johnson
• Life, Interrupted, James McConnel
• The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein
• Driving Force: The Natural Magic of Magnets, James Livingston

Fiction

• Starfish, Peter Watts
• Spook Country, William Gibson
• Halting State, Charles Stross
• Hominids, Robert Sawyer
• Humans, Robert Sawyer
• Look to Windward, Iain Banks
• The Clan Corporate, Charles Stross
• PopCo, Scarlett Thomas
• Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart

Reading List 2009

Fiction

• Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas
• Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon
• McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, ed. Michael Chabon
• The Last Colony, John Scalzi
• The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge, Vernor Vinge
• Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
• Dark Space, Marianne de Pierres
• Peace and War, Joe Haldeman
• Ringworld's Children, Larry Niven
• Between Planets, Rober Heinlein
• A Thousand Words for Stranger, Julie Czerneda

Historical and Biographical

• The Unfinished Game, Keith Devlin
• Open Veins of Latin America, Eduardo Galeano

Various

• Drinking, Smoking & Screwing, Sara Nickles ed.
• Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar
• Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman
• Escape From Cubicle Nation, Pamela Slim
• Distracted, Maggie Jackson
• The 4-Hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss
• The Magic of Thinking Big, David
• Vagabonding, Rolf Potts
• The Artists Way, Julia Cameron

Reading List 2010

Fiction

• Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Christopher Moore
• Hyperion, Dan Simmons
• Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear
• Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams
• Palimpsest, Charles Stross
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
• Blood Music, Greg Bear
• The Sparrow, Mary Russell
• World War Z, Max Brooks
• The Bohr Maker, Linda Nagata
• A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter Miller
• The Passage, Justin Cronin
• The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons
• The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
• Necromancer, Gordon Dickson
• Endymion, Dan Simmons
• Consider Phlebas, Ian Banks
• The Human Angle, William Tenn
• The Wasp Factory, Ian Banks
• Camouflage, Joe Haldeman
• Perfume, Patrick Suskind
• The Somnambulist, Jonathan Barnes
• Of Men and Monsters, William Tenn
• The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester

Historical and Biographical

• Gang Leader for a Day, Sudhir Venkatesh
• A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
• Better Than Sex: confessions of a political junkie, Hunter Thompson

Various

• The end of overeating, David Kessler
• On Writing, Stephen King
• Emergency, Neil Strauss
• Telling Lies for Fun & Profit, Lawrence Block
• The Sex Diaries, Bettina Arndt
• Freakonomics, Levitt & Dubner
• Plot and Structure, James Scott Bell
• Mating in Captivity, Esther Perel
• Adventures in Caravanastan, Greg Bearup
• Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass
• The Successful Novelist, David Morrell
• The Writer's Journey, Christopher Vogler
• Fiction Writer's Handbook, Hallie & Whit Burnett

My Reading List 2011

Fiction

• Geek Love, Catherine Dunn.
• Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
• The da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
• The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood
• Tales of the Dying Earth, Jack Vance
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• A Plague of Pythons, Frederik Pohl
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
• Amberjack, Terry Dowling
• Going Postal, Terry Pratchett
• Heavy Time, C. J. Cherryh
• The Crow Road, Ian Banks
• The Lavalite World, Philip Jose Farmer
• World of Ptavvs, Larry Niven
• Agents of Insight, Steven Klaper
• The Hollow Man, Dan Simmons
• World Shaker, Richard Harland
• Non-Stop, Brian Aldiss
• The Man in the Tree, Damon Knight

Various

• Writing Popular Fiction, Rona Randall
• Story Engineering, Larry Brooks
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck
• Loving + Hating Mathematics, Reuben Hersh & Vera John-Steiner
• Caffeine Blues, Stephen Cherniske

Reading List 2012

Fiction

• The Draco Tavern, Larry Niven
• Rule 34, Charles Stross
• Reamde, Neal Stephenson
• Surface Detail, Iain M. Banks
• Lady of the Trillium, Marion Bradley
• Zero History, William Gibson
• Abel Sanchez, Miguel de Unamuno
• Rider at the Gate, C. J. Cherryh
• The Futurological Congress, Stanislaw Lem
• The Star Diaries, Stanislaw Lem
• The Cyberiad, Stanislaw Lem
• The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick
• Martian Time Slip, Philip K. Dick
• Clans of the Alphane Moon, Philip K. Dick
• The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
• The Best of Philip K. Dick
• Eric, Terry Pratchett
• Snuff, Terry Pratchett
• Ubik, Philip K. Dick
• You Suck, Christopher Moore
• Bite Me, Christopher Moore
• Stardust, Neil Gaiman
• Dreamsnake, Vonda McIntyre
• Fluke, Christopher Moore
• The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

Various

• Deer Hunting With Jesus, Joe Bageant
• Papa Hemingway, A. E. Hotchner
• 101 Best Sex Scenes Ever Written, Barnaby Conrad
• Oranges and Lemmings, Charles Wright
• On Writing Horror, Mort Castle ed

Reading List 2013

Fiction

• A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
• The Dosadi Experiment, Frank Herbert
• Wizard of the Pigeons, Megan Lindholm - A great read
• Wild Seed, Octavia Butler
• Songs of the Dying Earth, Martin and Dozois ed.
• Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
• Bitter Greens, Kate Forsythe
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
• Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett
• Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks
• Excession, Iain M. Banks
• The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks
• Matter, Iain M. Banks
• The Little Sister, Raymond Chandler
• The Apocalypse Codex, Charles Stross
• Feersum Endjinn, Iain M. Banks
• The Hydrogen Sonata, Iain M. Banks
• The State of the Art, Iain M. Banks
• Inversions, Iain M. Banks
• Against A Dark Background, Iain M. Banks

Various

• Plot, Ansen Dibell
• Running With Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
• Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

Reading List 2014

Fiction

• The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
• The Fuller Memorandum, Charles Stross
• The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
• Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Various

• Negotiating With The Dead, Margaret Atwood
• Daily Rituals, Mason Curry

Reading List 2015

Fiction

• Blindsight, Peter Watts
• Echopraxia, Peter Watts
• The Eyre Affair, Jasper FForde
• Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds

Reading List 2016

Fiction

• The Shepherd's Crown, Terry Pratchett
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon

Various

• The Theory That Would not Die, Sharon McGrayne

Last Modified February 2016