Vacation Reading List

[howeird]

Most of my first 48 hours of vacation will be on planes and trains, which means I will need to bring some reading material with me. Must be paperbacks, must be a convenient size (I want reading material, not weight training). With this in mind, and Spider Robinson as my inspiration, I offer this meme for you-all to respond to:

1. What is the first Science Fiction book you remember reading?



2. Which author would you always read, regardless of the title or subject of the book?



3. Name a book which you found surprisingly engrossing.



4. What non-reference book do you read over and over again?



5. What book made you laugh out loud? When it was supposed to?



6. Name a book which you found both highly readable and educational.



7. Is there a book you don't think someone like me would ever think of reading which you enjoyed immensely?



8. What is the first Science Fiction movie you saw in a theater or drive-in?

Feel free to list multiple answers to any and all questions.

1. What is the first Science Fiction book you remember reading?

I tried to read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells after I saw the movie, but the language was too archaic for my 10-year-old brain. The first Sci-Fi book I actually read was Heinlein's Space Cadet.


2. Which author would you always read, regardless of the title or subject of the book?

Ruth Rendell, Michael Crichton, Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood, Alan Dean Foster, Sherri S. Tepper


3. Name a book which you found surprisingly engrossing.

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Jimmy Buffet's Where Is Joe Merchant?


4. What non-reference book do you read over and over again?

Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. Norton's Anthology of English Poetry (the only textbook I kept from college).


5. What book made you laugh out loud? When it was supposed to?

Pieces of the various Dave Barry books, Red Dwarf by Grant Naylor, The Princess Bride by William Goldman


6. Name a book which you found both highly readable and educational.

Last Chance To See, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine; Airframe and Five Patients by Michael Crichton


7. Is there a book you don't think someone like me would ever think of reading which you enjoyed immensely?

Nope, I haven't thought of it. ;-)


8. What is the first Science Fiction movie you saw in a theater or drive-in?

The Blob, at a drive-in, 1958.