Entropy Central

Book List

See What Books I’ve Read

A number of years ago, I decided to recreate a list of all the books I’ve read. I know I’ve missed some.
No Hardy Boys books are listed, for instance. In later years I’ve tracked everything in the current year
separately, then added them to the rest of the long list in Jan. The year is when I finished reading, not when I started.

This list is under construction, and may be under construction forever.

Fiction

Non-fiction

2020

Thick tome on the history of Cosa Nostra (Mafia) in New York

Past Years

Understanding Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails and more. (No Endlers though)

Interesting history and culture of the Crossword Puzzle, with input from many contemporary names in the business.

Memoirs of the prolific author.

A fairly complete catalog of freshwater fishes though not a lot of detail in many cases.

More of a history of angelfish in the aquarium rather than a how-to guide, though there are some comments at the end on breeding strategy.

Good primer.

Another good primer.

A survey of Native American spiritual beliefs.

Interesting if not old ideas on getting the most out of life.

A different kind of writing book. Very motivational and an insight into how Bradbury writes.

Invaluable for desert dwellers.

Rediscovering George Washington.

A waste of time.

An interesting write-up of one of the most under-rated politicans of the 19th century.

Required reading for all writers.

A look into the beliefs of the Aztecs and Maya.

Loaned it to a friend and his dog chewed the corner.

Dow 100,000. Yeah, right.

Actually, not a bad book for the beginner.

The book makes an effort to motivate the reader to unlock potential through clarity, but the HDTV theme gets a bit tiring.

Why bother with second-hand sources?

Recommended for first-time parents.

One of his famous rants, but also a beautiful illustration of how to write a screenplay.

An interesting look into the past.

The second volume of Ellison’s 1970s teevee column.

A fascinating look inside the mind of one of our most influential artists.

Really a good introduction to salt water aquariums and an excellent handbook for experienced marine aquarists.

A fun read.

The influential American hero’s autobiography.

He borrowed a book from me to get past writers block.

Motivational book. Read it and you decide if it has any value.

Surprisingly good.

A popular-level book on this exciting new branch of mathematics.

Interesting history of these three ancient wars that were a catalyst to empire.

The famous book Warren Buffet devoured.

Four articles that dive deep into technical aspects of the biology of aquarium fishes.

A fascinating read.

This book will give you a good feel for the injustice.

Every 16-year-old boy read this when I was in high school.

Captivating.

The authoritative volume on electromagnetic theory.

A pretty good beginners hadnbook for evaluating illness in your aquarium.

History most Americans don’t know but should.

The writing advice is questionable, but the personal stories are worth the price of admission..

And you thought the American government is slimy.

Full of himself. PhD in big letters on the cover to make sure we know.

Required reading for writers (if you can find a copy).

Many writers swear by it. I am not one of them.

It doesn’t take a week to learn simple HTML.

Required reading for gamers and writers.

The Americas before Columbus.

Best value out there for a star guide.

Don’t Bother.

The judge confirms what we already suspected.

An interesting but biased look into the life of a Oglala Lakota medicine man contemporary of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

Only book I know where you can look up the definition of “huskanoy.”

Good book on LaPlace and z-transforms. O’Flynn taught the class.

For sheep.

Contains the real secret.

Interesting brief biographies of the all too few women who made a significant contribution prior to 1930.

Short discussions on a bunch of obscure and odd historical theories and experiments.

It’s as much a history of modern space exploration as it is a biography of the great educator.

The authors wimp out and don’t offer a historical explanation for the resurrection.

Interesting speculation on the origin of human intelligence, albeit a bit dated..

Required reading for all RF engineers.

Written in the 1930s, it’s a bit too westernized for my taste.

Caveat emptor, but does contain a lot of good information.

Details the band leader’s life and his struggles. Really brings out Miller’s personality.

A good primer on what the business is like.

A good resource for the beginning filmmaker.

Like reading Finnegan’s Wake: a complete waste of time.

A collection of Sports Illustrated articles on Hammerin’ Hank.

Common sense.

(King George I).

Intereting life of Mr. Sulu, including his internment.

Commentary on a 75-year-old actor’s adventures with social media.

The life of this brilliant father of modern science was not without controversy.

Good Lord this is dry.

Very interesting but not for the scientifically timid.

Fiction

2013

Past Years

It had the benefit of being first.

A fun story of a guy who just never dies.

A great story ruined by the ending.

Space opera at it’s best. I’m proud I guessed the right answer.

Local Arizona writer.

Weird.

Hard SF with deep characters.

I don’t remember it.

Toby is an emerging star unafraid to break the rules.

Good, but you must look at the copyright date before reading.

Very funny.

Old novella. Good story. The title is a bit misleading.

Leaves you wanting more.

Scott’s first attempt at technothriller.

A painful experience of Gentry Lee’s early prose.

Short story collection with some good stuff and, well, who knew ACC could write shaggy dog!

A thriller highlighting the dangers of identity theft.

Preposterous today, but look at the copyright date.

Missing manuscript pages in the edition I have make for difficult reading.

Required reading for SF fans.

Based on Ellison’s time touring with a band.

Classic shorts from the Ellison collection.

Cold War era story about a future where America is under Soviet rule and the struggles of our solar system’s colonists after the earth nukes itself out of existence.

Written in the style of Vonnegut but gets old fast.

One of the most creative first contact stories ever.

One of the most creative time travel stories out there.

David gave me this book.

A battle of power on an old spaceship not really ready for action.

Based on David’s experience adopting a child. Different from the movie.

The ending disappointed me (Sorry David). I’m too afraid of machine-rule.

A very old Star Trek novel.

A true classic in every sense of the word.

Awful.

Very odd.

Forget Dianetics. This book is great.

Maybe not worth the time invested.

A fun little tale of changing the time stream. The story shows its age, though.

Lame.

A very dark tale. A little rough due to the author’s inexperience, but structured pretty well.

Not what you expect.

Reads of its era.

First novel by my friend, Jack.

Meh.

One of the most creative milieus in all literature.

One of the most creative milieus in all literature.

A bestseller for a reason.

One of the most creative milieus in all literature.

You might not understand if you aren’t fen.

Interesting take on fantasy from a renowned SF writer.

A bit predictable.

An interesting take on reactionless thrust.

If you think the Borg are nasty…

A bit Deus ex Machina, but then, that was the whole point, wasn’t it.

Does have the feel of Heinlein.

A must-read for any political junkie.

I’d have done it differently.

Captivating view of the decay of society.

Wow. For a little chapbook, I mean wow. Lucid view into 1938 Nazi Germany before events became well known.

An interesting but a bit far-fetched story of weird time travel in an ice age.

Very interesting aliens but the end seemed very rushed and forced.

The story’s age shows, but still a decent tale.

Wonderfully irreverant.

Ice nine.

A must read.

Short fiction with some cool ideas, written before their time.

Short fiction from the early years of Clarion.

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