#1 The Stand – Stephen King

For it’s epic, world spanning and world changing story seen through the eyes of a massive ensemble cast.  For it’s subtle use of science fiction and even fantasy (the antagonist is a thousand year old sorcerer).  For the realized characters and their little quirks (M-O-O-N, and that spells quirks).  For the classic battle of good vs. evil, redemption, and fate… much like Lost.

#2 The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

My first fantasy story, found by pure chance while browsing Borders, and changed my opinion about the genre overnight.  A story about a boy growing up in a different kind of world than our own.  Without question the most well written story I’ve ever read.  The scenes were so well translated in my imagination I can picture it as a movie in my head, complete with sound.  The characters are real, you can see and hear young Kvothe and his always out of reach girlfriend Denna, and you can feel the desire, strain, tragedy and hope of their perhaps-not-so-unique relationship.  This story has realistic situations with realistic consequences, and even features a battle with a dragon and makes it believable, which I never thought possible.

#3 Company – Max Berry

For making fun of the corporate office world, much like the first half of Office Space.  Had me laughing at some points, until mid-way through when the story changes to something almost resembling science fiction.  What’s on the thirteenth floor, and just who is the CEO?  By the end, you realize the story you thought you were going to read is not at all what you expected.

#4 Apathy, and Other Small Victories – Paul Neilan

Who cares?  Eh, this books speaks to me — and should speak to any Larry David or George Costanza fan.  It’s a story about nothing… a guy living his life pointing out the absurdity of it all.  Funniest book I’ve read, without question.  Making me laugh out loud is a hard thing for a book to do, and I was laughing pretty much every other page.  Also the main character sleeps on the toilet, which, well, like I said… speaks to me.

#5 Millennium – John Varley

This book’s narrative takes place in modern times — at least, that’s how it starts.  The story is more about the Earth as it is thousands of years from now, and how they are surviving:  taking soon-to-be victims split-seconds before major fatal accidents in the past (like airplane crashes) to sustain the population, as the human race has gone infertile.  As they get more desperate, they get sloppy, so we start to catch on.  And at the end, a household appliance completely blows your mind as everything comes full circle.

Honorable Mention, as it’s more of a philosophical essay disguised as a novel so not really a novel in the traditional sense:

#6 Ishmael – Daniel Quinn

Even when I’m done reading this, I’m not done reading this.  Each repeat reading changes my view of the world and how we fit into it.  Reminds me what it means, or should mean, to be human.  Is there a universal law, as observable as the laws of physics, that tells mankind how we should live?  Why yes, yes there is, and it’s pretty simple and obvious but nobody in the industrialized world seems to see it.  You wouldn’t think you are flying if you jump off a cliff and just haven’t hit the ground yet… you would think you are tumbling toward disaster.  Yet we seem to think we’re flying.  That, and a lot of other things.

EDIT: Can’t believe I forgot to mention Life of Pi, which fits in there somewhere.  I liked the adventure, and Pi’s musings on religion.  And the twisty, turny, ambiguous ending.

* = As of September 2009.  I’m never done.

“There are all kinds of dream interpretations, but I have always believed they serve a simple eliminatory function, and not much more–that dreams are the psyche’s way of taking a good dump now and then.  And that people who don’t dream—or don’t dream in a way they can often remember when they wake up–are mentally constipated in some way.”

–Glen Bateman, “The Stand”  (finally got back into the book, and am savoring each delicious page)

I just got the latest Star Trek book, a Voyager novel named “Full Circle.”  It picks up after the Destiny trilogy left off for the Voyager crew.  Anyway, when I opened it up the first thing I saw was this:

I’m in the middle of reading John Varley’s “Gaea” trilogy of books:  Titan, Wizard, and Demon.  I just started Wizard and they’ve introduced this society of women that moved away from the Earth and now lives in a colony on the moon.  They can do this and survive, since men are no longer physically required to reproduce.  Many years have passed and eventually men become sort of an exaggerated myth, where they are referred to as hideous ogres.

Here’s an excerpt, where one of the younger girls has to make a trip where there will be men.

“You’re going into a world much different than ours. There are creatures out there known as men. They’re not like us at all. Between their legs they have…”

“Ma, I already know that.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve seen a picture. I don’t know how they could ever get it in if you didn’t want them to.”

“Never mind. The truth of it is, life on the outside is based on the desires of these men. They think of nothing else but inserting their penis into you. The thing swells up to be as long as your forearm, and twice as thick. You must never turn your back on them, or they will rape you.”

Which reminds me, if you want an entire series based around how different society would be with no men, I can’t recommend “Y: The Last Man” enough.