The Sword and Laser discussion

Choose 5 (and only 5) books that you think best represent you (or just your bookshelf). Not necessarily the best books. Not necessarily your favourites. No need for explanations or caveats.
Whittling it down is hard I know.

I've got my five. Post your own lists or use mine to try and figure out my personality traits.

Soul Music - Terry Pratchett
The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell
Ghostwritten - David Mitchell
Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks
Transmetropolitan - Warren Ellis & Darrick Robertson

Stewart wrote: "Choose 5 (and only 5) books that you think best represent you (or just your bookshelf). Not necessarily the best books. Not necessarily your favourites. No need for explanations or caveats.
Whittli..."

Oh, evil man -- that is sooo hard. I'll choose five, but I reserve the right to come back and change my list after some thought.

The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian
Life by Richard Fortey
The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Stewart wrote: "Choose 5 (and only 5) books that you think best represent you (or just your bookshelf). Not necessarily the best books. Not necessarily your favourites. No need for explanations or caveats.
Whittli..."

"The Winter King" is a nice pick.

Fun... crossover David Mitchell but it does make me wonder why you picked Ghostwritten.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

.
.
.

Two Dogs on a Trike
Life is Better on Three Wheels Notebook
Trikes & Aliens
I Hate Everything
I Love Dinosaurs

Trike wrote: ".
.
.

Two Dogs on a Trike
Life is Better on Three Wheels Notebook
Trikes & Aliens
I Hate Everything
I Love Dinosaurs"

Heh.

.
..
...
Trek To Madworld
Death Count
A Choice of Catastrophes
Seeds of Rage
Future Imperfect

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Jack in the Box by William Kotzwinkle (Book of Love)
Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
Not Nice by Aziz Gazipura

Extra credit if you can match the covers of the editions you've read.

The Lord of the Rings
Time Enough for Love
This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes
The Good Bad Boy
A Brief History of Time

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Fun... crossover David Mitchell but it does make me wonder why you picked Ghostwritten.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

The short answer is that I enjoyed it more than Cloud Atlas. They both feature a similar 'gimick' in the way the chapters are connected (tenuously) and contain multiple styles and voices but I found that the final two chapters in Ghostwritten put the rest of the book in a completely new perspective. It's the only book I've closed, thought about for a few minutes and then flipped back to the start and read through again. It was like the prestige of a grand illusion. 'Show me again now I know what to look for!'
Maybe that spoiled Cloud Atlas for me. The similar set up made me think another grand flourish was coming at the end, so personally the end was a bit of an anti-climax.

The long answer (internet forums are not the place for long answers) involves the context in which I read Ghostwritten being more formative than Cloud Atlas. I remember precisely where I was when I read the final page almost 18 years ago. An almost perfect conjunction of the right book at the right time.

May I ask in return why you have gone for Cloud Atlas?

Dune
The Stand
Hyperion
Tigana
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The Martian
Mason & Dixon
A Stitch in Time
Rijks Masters of the Golden Age
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand

Interesting collection there. Was Mason & Dixon hard to read? Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand?

Not hard to read, no. The language only takes me a few pages to get used to.

..
..
..
Ripper Tassie tales
The Grumpy Old Git's Guide to Life
Secrets of a Master Moderator
Aussie Rules
The Miner

Here are 5:
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (10th Anniversary Audio)
Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

& Because I don't like to play by the rules, here are 3 runners up:
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two by John Tiffany (I listened to the full cast audio play & it blew me away!)

Stewart wrote: "May I ask in return why you have gone for Cloud Atlas? "
Because it was my first, so I had maybe the opposite experience.

The Fellowship of the Ring (n.b. The whole trilogy, of course, but this is the edition I read first.)
Red Planet
A Princess of Mars
Downbelow Station
The Man of Gold

Here we go:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Still Life with Woodpecker
Neuromancer
Jude the Obscure
Flowers for Algernon

The Idiot
Radiance
The Last Days of New Paris
The Android's Dream
New York 2140

All Systems Red
Ninefox Gambit
God's War
Guards! Guards!
The Way To The Stars

To Kill a Mockingbird
1984
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Call of the Wild
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

all read in my childhood were very formative to me! i will reread them many more times.

just because i like Ian rule breaker style!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
All Quiet on the Western Front

two recent read that touched me!

For me it is:
Dune (re-reading right now, what a book!)
The Hobbit
David Copperfield
Pride and Prejudice
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I have read each of these books many times. Love reading!

Dana wrote: "For me it is:
Dune (re-reading right now, what a book!)
The Hobbit
David Copperfield
Pride and Prejudice
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I have read each of these books many times. Love ..."

all five of those are on my bookshelves. although technically Pride and prejudiced is my wife's still counts right!

Lee wrote: "To Kill a Mockingbird
1984
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Call of the Wild
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

all read in ..."

Also rereading Dune for the 20th+ time.... Ahhhhhh....

Joelle wrote: "Lee wrote: "To Kill a Mockingbird
1984
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Call of the Wild
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

..."
Somehow that linked to Lee's comment... Was supposed to connect to Dana's. 🙃

The Stand by Stephen King
Van Halen Rising by Greg Renoff
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
No Logo by Naomi Klein
The Martian by Andy Weir

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway by Sara Gran

IT by Stephen King
Pandora’s Star by Peter F Hamilton
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Nice selection. Iron Lake?

@Tamahome It’s the first of a mystery series that takes place on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. I love northern Minnesota, used to camp up that way all the time, and William Kent Krueger really writes the area as a character of its own. They’re great mystery novels too.

I see you’re a Pandora’s Star fan too. That series hit me like no other sci-fi ever has.

Reading Iron Lake now. Seems like good characters and good writing. I also watch a lot of youtube videos with Brandon Sanderson talking or teaching. I think he's offering the original version of The Way of Kings, The Way of Kings Prime, for free. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/the-...

Dexter: Darkly dreaming by Jeff Lindsey
White Water, Red Hot Lead by Dan Daly
Et Cepher by God
Bendigo Shafter by Louis L'amour
Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem

@Tamahome Glad to hear it. Always good to see some local writers getting more eyes on their work.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
One Fearful Yellow Eye by John D. MacDonald
To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl

Daemon by Daniel Suarez
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Horns by Joe Hill
Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero
Red shirts by John Scalzi