My Book Queue

I have to have routine, but I must also have randomness ... so mixing both makes me happy.

I have a book case full of books - soon to be runneth over.

I also don't like getting bogged down in series or authors, so I never read consecutive books in the same series or by the same author.

Instead of following my own desires, I randomly choose my next book to read by either a die roll or flipping a coin. This was easier when I had only ten books in my queue at a time. I had a ten-sided die that was perfect for this and could determine the next book in one roll.

Now I have as many as 30 books in my queue, so I flip a coin, dividing the queue into two. I lay out all the books in my queue in rows, usually 8 books in a row. A heads will mean the top half of the rows move on to the next round. In the case of an odd quantity, the higher qty goes on top ... and so on and so on until there is one book left.

Currently I'm reading Bran Mak Morn: The Last King. This is a compilation of short stories by weird fiction writer Robert E. Howard revolving around his King of the Picts, Bran Mak Morn. The stories are dark semi-historical fiction - full of battles and bloodshed, dark heroes, eldritch evil ... man stuff.

Just before that I read Enter Jeeves, a compilation of P.G. Wodehouse stories, including the first eight stories written about Bertie Wooster and his servant Jeeves. Very dry brit humor about the idiocy of the restful rich. I enjoyed it.

Here's what is currently in my queue:

2061: Odyssey Three - Arthur C. Clarke

I really like Arthur Clarke. While usually not filled to the brim with action, his space odyssey series is very well written. I'm thoroughly intrigued with Artificial Intelligence so the HAL angle is my favorite - but I'm not sure HAL is in this next one. In 2010 he gets sucked in to Jupiter as it collapses into a star.

Another Fine Myth/Myth Conceptions - Robert Aspirin

I read a bunch of these when I was in 5th or 6th grade. They led me towards the realization that no genre is static and mutations are both likely and superior. It's Douglas Adams meets Lord of the Rings starring Bob and David.

Children of Dune - Frank Herbert

I find myself both angry and fascinated by Herbert. I'm angry that he writes my chosen genre better than me and easier. I'm fascinated by how I'm always so close to the plunge that he makes over and over ... I'm just scared.

In Sylvan Shadows - The Cleric Quintet Book Two - R.A. Salvatore

I enjoyed the first book in this series, Canticle, and whats not to like - its Salvatore ... still writing in Faerun - only with priests as the main characters instead of scimitar wielding dark elves.

Castle Roogna - Piers Anthony

I wish I would have read this as a teenager. It's exactly the kind of smutty high-tone/low-brow fantasy that made being pimply and unpopular worthwhile. I don't think anywhere else in the history of literature (of any quality) has there been mention of riding a female centaur and accidentally grabbing the centaurs breasts in attempt to keep from falling off. (-sigh- you'd have to read it) I'm not even sure what this book is going to be about.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

Please understand I think objectivism is stupid. I think Ayn Rand is stupid. But you don't have the right to bash anyone in public until you know their work intimately ... and boy do I want to bash her in public.

Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings

I'm debating keeping this in my queue. It's a rip-off of mainstream High Fantasy. Chosen ones, old wizards, ultimate evil, and tea and cake.

The Lord God Made Them All - James Herriot

I wish I was a vet. These books are quite possibly my favorite series of all time.

The Rustlers of West Fork - Louis L'Amour

Trash fiction? Sure. Hopalong Cassidy in L'amour's own style. It's just Western ... that is all.

The Complete Robot - Isaac Asimov

I stopped reading his grand unified epic until I could find this book. I did. It's in mint condition. So now I can start at the beginning and work my way back to the Galactic Empire. I secretly hope for this one everytime I flip the coin.

Doctor Who - Planet of Giants - Terrance Dicks

Yeah ... I'm watching or reading every single Doctor Who episode since the beginning ... I have a long way to go.

Mossflower - Brian Jacques

I'm embarassed to get this book from Half-Price because they put it in the Young Adult Fiction section. So I have a weakness for anthropomorphic furries.

The Bachman Books - Stephen King

Please be aware I'm reading Stephen King as a study in writing. I'm reading them in the order that he wrote them to see how his style evolved over the years. Plus, King kind of has his own grand unified epic and I like authors that tie all their books together.

Dragonlance - Dragons of Winter Night - Weis and Hickman

Re-read. So many people have written in this setting that its just fun to immerse yourself in its history. Book Two of my favorite thread in the series.

The Afterlife - John Updike

I got my ex-hippie/wealthy doctor uncle drunk and asked him for some suggestions on books to read. He wrote me a list in chickenscratch. John Updike is one name I can make out. Unfamiliar with him.

Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad

I got this because Conrad is mentioned some by John Irving. Only later did I find out that Apocalypse Now is loosely based on one of Conrad's works.

Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller

Remember Robert Deniro in Cape Fear talking to Juliette Lewis about Nexus, Sexus, and Plexus? Yeah ... haven't read any of them yet. This was the only one i found with a naked women on the front.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick

Blade Runner was based on this novel. I can't remember Blade Runner - I've only seen it once. Shame on me.

Porno - Irvine Welsh

The sequel to Trainspotting. I thought Trainspotting was brilliant ... the book, not the movie. I hear this is even better. Someday I'm going to learn how to speak Scots properly.

The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon

This guy wrote Gravity's Rainbow, a book that I've repeatedly heard mentioned as the most difficult book to read in the world and also the most brilliant. This is another name I could make out from my uncle's list. He would read this stuff. He's the only person I've ever had an intelligent conversation with about Einstein's "spooky action at a distance".

The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving

Looking forward to this. The last one I read of his was The World According to Garp. If only my life were so devastatingly interesting and filled with adult intrigue bred from inevitable discontent.

The Crystal World - J.G. Ballard

I like Ballard's science fiction. All this time I thought he was just the guy that wrote Empire of the Sun. Nope. He's got geek nads.

Clive Barker's Books of Blood

I am ashamedly a fan of splatterpunk. Clive is wicked. He's what Lovecraft would have been if he had been forced to live through the 70s and 80s. More Elder God and Cosmic Ancestor stuff with heavy emphasis on sin and gore.

Don Quixote - Cervantes

I've been told I'm quixotic. I need to know what that means.

The Complete Original Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

I love House. This is why we have House.

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

How can you be a fan of science fiction and not have read this? I don't know. I haven't read it.

Paths of Darkness - R.A. Salvatore

I know I'm cheating by putting two series by the same author in my queue. But how can Drizzt not be in my queue?

Moonraker - Ian Fleming

I can't find anything wrong with these books ... just the films.

King Solomon's Mines - H Rider Haggard

I picked this up at a garage sale with an old copy of Jailbird. I doubt its as good as Vonnegut.

Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut

Speaking of ... I read all my authors in the order that they write their books. (with the exceptions of series that a plot-based chronological approach is necessary) Looking forward to some of my style of science fiction.

The Magic Christian - Terry Southern

If I'm going to write the screenplay to a modern adaptation of this book starring Bill Murray and Jason Schwatrzman I need to get cracking on the source material before Bill dies.

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk

He's not as good as he was in Invisible Monsters ... but I'm still giving him a chance.

And that's it. I'm about halfway through Bran Mak Morn, so in about a week or two I should be flipping again.In the meantime I'll be looking for more books to add. I need more Wodehouse and maybe some steampunk.