A Few of My Favorite Light (and not-so-light) Reading Books

For most of my life, I have read a little bit every day; mostly at bedtime to distract me while I fall asleep. And since I've been such a nerd, my tastes tend toward the light, short, and anthropological; science fiction, a little bit of fantasy and everything else. Since it's been hard for me to dig through large tomes while falling asleep, I've read a lot of short stories.

In the near future, I plan to post some short reviews of my favorite books, but in the meantime I think I'll give you a short list of some of the books that I've enjoyed the most. I wouldn't generally call these great literature, but they've all amused, distracted, or informed me in some way. Many of them were pretty popular at one time, but a few are obscure. So, without very much description (for now), here are some books that I liked a lot. Your tastes may vary, but I'd be interested in your opinions on any that you have read.

(I've put asterisks (*) next to the books that are not-so-light reading.)

"The Cyberiad" by Stanislaw Lem (who died last month) - a collection of short stories set in a world (future?) where machine-based people and creatures are common, and carbon-based life is mostly just the stuff of myth. Brilliantly translated by Michael Kandel, with a few fun illustrations by a Polish artist, this is the book that I've kept at my bedside for over thirty years, and have re-read countless times. Occasionally it's laugh-out-loud funny, and humor and lightheartedness permeates the book. Subtitled "Fables for the Cybernetic Age", it truly delivers on something like the Brother Grimm fables; Lem operated in then-oppressive Poland and at the time had to cast his political messages in metaphor and mythology. That, combined with his sense of humor and poetry, created a new genre in this book. I don't know what to call it, but maybe someone else who reads it will. The first half of the book largely concerns the activities of Trurl and Klapaucius, two "constructors" who are robot engineers with close to god-like powers, solving problems (and sometimes failing to solve them) while traveling around the universe. The second half is a bit weaker (at least to me) partly because Trurl and Klapaucius are not as present, but any weak sections are more than compensated for by the strong sections. Written as a collection of short stories with huge injections of humore, this is my favorite book and I highly recommend that you read it if you haven't and you enjoy sci-fi.

"City" by Clifford D. Simak - a book aggregated from several related short stories about the future of man. The plot is about how man's actions lead to the end of man on Earth, talking smart dogs, self-sufficient robots made to serve mankind but with none left to serve, ant societies that use technology (and are otherwise pretty much unfathomable by mammals), and the culture and mythology of the smart dogs. This book operates on several levels, including as a metaphorical warning about the consequences of our actions (think "butterfly effect").

*"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A Heinlein - Okay, I have been described as an aging hippie, but I read this book in the 4th grade, and it had a huge effect on my perspective on life. Since it's been around in the popular culture for the last 45 or so years, I'm not going to describe in detail, except to say that it provides one answer to the question
"what would happen if a human raised in an entirely alien culture were suddenly placed into American culture?" With interesting political, religious and social observations, it leads to some surprising (at least to a 10 year old boy in the mid-sixties) places. I doubt it has the potential to change your life like it once did mine, but it's still very interesting. Some say it gets too long-winded towards the end, but for me it was a fun read all the way through. When Heinlein originally wrote this book, his editors thought it needed to be cut by about 30%; although that may have made it easier to commit to and finish, I think it made it more confusing in the middle. After Heinlein died an unabridged version was released, which I believe is the best version to read, even though it's longer.

"The River Why" by David James Duncan - a very funny book about fly fishing, the inner journey, and twinkies. If you haven't read it, well, put it on your list!

*"Eon" by Greg Bear - Epic science fiction about man, and a way that the universe might work; almost religious, since it is at the heart a creation story.

*"The Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov - Another sci-fi epic; I think it's one of Asimov's best. Psychological, sociological, and far-reaching.

"Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke - What would happen if our children evolved into another, more advanced form?

"The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff - A fun, simple description of the fundamentals of Buddhism, set in the world of Winnie The Pooh. I wouldn't describe myself as a Buddhist, but I think that America would be a better place if all Americans knew a little bit more about it. This book is about education, not conversion and clarity, not dogma. The only "religious" book I have given to both of my kids. A very quick read.

"A Fine and Private Place" by Peter S. Beagle - A beautiful story about "life" in a cemetery, where the main protagonist hangs out and interacts with the dead and a Raven. Somehow, it brought a deep inner peace to me the first time I read it. I don't know why, though... I see it's been made into a musical currently in production (until mid-May 2006) in New York.

The "Discworld" series by Terry Pratchett - Really funny, easy-to-read (written for kids, I guess) fantasies set in a parody fantasy word. Full of british humor and baby boomer cultural references, they're really quite charming. They really hooked Lindsay and me a few years ago. If I had to compare them to anything, I'd say they're kind of like the "Hitchiker's Guide To The Universe" books crossed with the "Harry Potter" series. Try the first book, "The Color of Magic", and see if you like 'em!

I've run out of time for now, so I'm going to post this much for now; let me know what you think.