Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A previous reading list

My boyfriend is cataloging my books for me. I think a big chunk is because he is nice, but he also wants the practice with the new-ish keyboard alternative. Finally, he used to work at a library and it already bugs him that I group by books by subgenre instead of alphabetically. I thought I had a catalog of my textbooks, so I went looking through old lists. I don't have one of textbooks, but I do have a list of all the books I read from Feb 2007 to Feb 2008, complete with pagecounts. I kept track then (as now) so I can ensure that I am reading enough to stay happy. I needed baseline data for that in college, so I logged everything. As now, I am only logging books I read in whole, or complete short stories.

The interesting period in the middle of the year was the summer of alphabetical reading. I was working at a coffee/ice cream shop between the comp sci building and the engineering campus. After about 2pm, it was the closest non-vending machine general food source for the med college and the math/physics/chemistry departments. It was tons of fun to interact with all these smart people who functioned a lot like me. The summer of '07, I wasn't taking classes and I didn't have research work, so I had massive amounts of free time. I asked my customers for book suggestions. The idea was that I would read one book for each letter of the alphabet, by author last name. Some of the letters were very hard to fill in. I was introduced to many new books and I've continued reading a number of the authors. I did read other books between authors that summer--just 26 books (even when #26 is the entire Amber series) was not enough.

The niftiest part was finding out that the engineering library had ~15 fiction books. A lot of the librarians didn't even know that.

Start Date    End Date    Title    Author    Pages    total_f
9-Feb    10-Feb    Glory Road    R. A. Heinlein    294    294
10-Feb    10-Feb    Caves of Steel    Isaac Asimov    270    564
11-Feb    11-Feb    The Naked Sun    Isaac Asimov    269    833
12-Feb    13-Feb    On a Pale Horse    Piers Anthony    325    1158
13-Feb    14-Feb    Bearing an Hourglass    Piers Anthony    371    1529
15-Feb    16-Feb    Dune    Frank Herbert    535    2064
16-Feb    17-Feb    Assignment in Eternity    R. A. Heinlein    276    2340
18-Feb    23-Feb    The Man Who Sold the Moon    R. A. Heinlein    238    2578
13-Feb    23-Feb    Penguin Book of Leider    divers    189    2767
26-Feb    3-Mar    Illustrated Man    Ray Bradbury    186    2953
1-Mar    7-Mar    Glory Season    David Brin    772    3725
7-Mar    16-Apr    Glory Season    David Brin    772    4497
15-Mar    16-Mar    Sundiver    David Brin    340    4837
16-Mar    19-Mar    Hyperion    Dan Simmons    482    5319
20-Mar    2-Apr    Hyperion    Dan Simmons    482    5801
20-Mar    21-Mar    The Wee Free Men    Terry Pratchett    375    6176
21-Mar    24-Apr    Sundiver    David Brin    340    6516
22-Mar    24-Mar    The Stochastic Man    Robert Silverburg    240    6756
24-Mar    25-Mar    Slant    Greg Bear    506    7262
26-Mar    12-Apr    Beowolf    Burton Raffel    100    7362
26-Mar    22-Jul    Brighter than a Thousand Suns    Robert Jungk    360    7722
27-Mar    30-Mar    Weilding a Red Sword    Piers Anthony    313    8035
2-Apr    4-Apr    With a Tangled Skein    Piers Anthony    404    8439
13-Apr    1-Aug    Beowolf    Burton Raffel    100    8539
11-May    16-May    The Dragon Reborn    Robert Jordan    674    9213
12-May    15-May    The Rest of the Robots    Isaac Asimov    556    9769
16-May    18-May    Nebula Awards 31    edited by Pamela Sargent    331    10100
19-May    20-May    Infinity's Shore    David Brin    524    10624
20-May    23-May    Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: A Novel    Susanna Clarke    782    11406
24-May    26-May    Lord Valentine's Castle    Robert Silverburg    446    11852
25-May    25-May    Ubik    Philip K. Dick    216    12068
25-May    5-Jun    The Worm Ouroboros    E. R. Eddison    444    12512
26-May    28-May    Valentine Pontifex    Robert Silverburg    368    12880
27-May    29-May    Pebble in the Sky    Isaac Asimov    223    13103
31-May    3-Jun    The Currents of Space    Isaac Asimov    217    13320
4-Jun    4-Jun    Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!    Richard Feynman    346    13666
6-Jun    8-Jun    The Origins of the Future    John Gribbin    276    13942
9-Jun    9-Jun    Stainless Steel Visions    Harry Harrison    254    14196
10-Jun    11-Jun    The World According to Garp    John Irving    437    14633
20-Jun    21-Jun    Master's Choice    edited by Laurence Janifer    350    14983
22-Jun    22-Jun    Lonesome Gods    Louis L'Amour    450    15433
23-Jun    29-Jun    The Source    James Michener    909    16342
30-Jun    2-Jul    Laughing Space    edited by Asimov    521    16863
1-Jul    1-Jul    My Name is Asher Lev    Chaim Potak    369    17232
2-Jul    3-Jul    The Persian Boy    Mary Renault    419    17651
3-Jul    4-Jul    The Fall of Hyperion    Dan Simmons    517    18168
3-Jul    23-Aug    Down and Out in London and Paris    George Orwell    106    18274
6-Jul    9-Jul    The Stand    Stephen King    1153    19427
10-Jul    10-Jul    Slaughterhouse Five    Kurt Vonnegut    215    19642
11-Jul    22-Jul    One Man's Bible    Gao Xingjian    450    20092
13-Jul    15-Jul    Snow Crash    Neal Stephenson    471    20563
18-Jul    9-Aug    Sundiver    David Brin    340    20903
18-Jul    21-Jul    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince    J. K. Rowling    652    21555
21-Jul    21-Jul    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows    J. K. Rowling    759    22314
25-Jul    26-Jul    Mama Day    Gloria Naylor    312    22626
28-Jul    15-Aug    The Winds of War    Herman Wouk    885    23511
2-Aug    14-Aug    Snow Crash    Neal Stephenson    471    23982
1-Aug    18-Aug    Monster of God    David Quammen    513    24495
19-Aug    22-Aug    Dune    Frank Herbert    535    25030
22-Aug    26-Sep    War and Peace    Leo Tolstoy    696    25726
23-Aug    23-Aug    The Chronicles of Amber, Vol 1    Roger Zelanzy    338    26064
24-Aug    24-Aug    The Chronicles of Amber, Vol 2    Roger Zelanzy    434    26498
24-Aug    25-Aug    The Telling    Ursula K. LeGuin    264    26762
25-Aug    26-Aug    Unicorn Variations    Roger Zelanzy    249    27011
27-Aug    7-Sep    Unicorn Variations    Roger Zelanzy    249    27260
30-Aug    31-Aug    The Color of Magic    Terry Pratchett    210    27470
1-Sep    3-Sep    The Disposessed    Ursula K. LeGuin    311    27781
3-Sep    5-Sep    The Cat Who Walks Through Walls    R. A. Heinlein    388    28169
7-Sep    7-Sep    The Last Yggdrasill    Robert F. Young    135    28304
8-Sep    8-Sep    Trump of Doom    Roger Zelanzy    183    28487
8-Sep    8-Sep    Blood of Amber    Roger Zelanzy    215    28702
8-Sep    9-Sep    Sign of Chaos    Roger Zelanzy    214    28916
9-Sep    9-Sep    Knight of Shadows    Roger Zelanzy    251    29167
9-Sep    9-Sep    Prince of Chaos    Roger Zelanzy    225    29392
9-Sep    10-Sep    The Chronicles of Amber, Vol 1    Roger Zelanzy    338    29730
11-Sep    14-Sep    The Chronicles of Amber, Vol 2    Roger Zelanzy    434    30164
14-Sep    15-Sep    Trump of Doom    Roger Zelanzy    183    30347
15-Sep    15-Sep    Blood of Amber    Roger Zelanzy    215    30562
15-Sep    15-Sep    Sign of Chaos    Roger Zelanzy    214    30776
15-Sep    15-Sep    Knight of Shadows    Roger Zelanzy    251    31027
15-Sep    16-Sep    Prince of Chaos    Roger Zelanzy    225    31252
16-Sep    28-Sep    The Winds Twelve Quarters    Ursula K. LeGuin    277    31529
28-Sep    28-Sep    Pawn of Phophecy    David Eddings    258    31787
30-Sep    30-Sep    Queen of Sorcery    David Eddings    322    32109
1-Oct    2-Oct    Magician's Gambit    David Eddings    320    32429
3-Oct    3-Oct    Castle of Wizardry    David Eddings    384    32813
3-Oct    5-Oct    Enchanter's Endgame    David Eddings    384    33197
7-Oct    10-Oct    Game of Thrones    George R. R. Martin    835    34032
10-Oct    13-Oct    A Clash of Kings    George R. R. Martin    1040    35072
13-Oct    14-Oct    Changing Planes    Ursula K. LeGuin    246    35318
14-Oct    16-Oct    Lord of Light    Roger Zelanzy    257    35575
16-Oct    24-Oct    The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, and Other stories    Roger Zelanzy    229    35804
24-Oct    1-Nov    Prisoners of the Stars    Isaac Asimov    538    36342
5-Nov    17-Nov    A Storm of Swords    George R. R. Martin    924    37266
17-Nov    17-Nov    Moonraker    Ian Fleming    247    37513
21-Nov    22-Nov    Mask of Loki    Roger Zelanzy    340    37853
22-Nov    23-Nov    Kiln People    David Brin    568    38421
23-Nov    25-Nov    Starship Troopers    Isaac Asimov    309    38730
26-Nov    1-Dec    Singularity Sky    Charles Stross    337    39067
2-Dec    5-Dec    Patriot Games    Tom Clancy    503    39570
6-Dec    8-Dec    The Venetian Affair    Helen MacInnes    352    39922
14-Dec    14-Dec    Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel    Scott Adams    350    40272
14-Dec    21-Dec    Feast for Crows    George R. R. Martin    978    41250
20-Dec    27-Dec    In the Beginning …    Isaac Asimov    227    41477
23-Dec    24-Dec    Gray Lensman    E. E. "Doc" Smith    253    41730
24-Dec    30-Dec    The Early Ayn Rand    Ayn Rand    528    42258
27-Dec    27-Dec    Neuromancer    William Gibson    271    42529
21-Dec    4-Jan    Asimov's Guide to the Bible, Vol. 2    Isaac Asimov    557    43086
5-Jan    21-Jan    Cardinal of the Kremlin    Tom Clancy    624    43710
7-Jan    18-Jan    Cryptonomicon    Neal Stephenson    1152    44862
24-Jan    26-Jan    Half Life    Hal Clement    252    45114
26-Jan    28-Jan    The Salmon of Doubt    Douglas Adams    299    45413
31-Jan    4-Feb    Selected Stories    Theodore Sturgeon    439    45852
4-Feb    5-Feb    Isle of the Dead    Roger Zelanzy    201    46053
6-Feb    9-Feb    I Dreamt Revolution    William Reswick    328    46381

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