Books I Want To Read:

Modern Library top 100 novels (rival list)
(top non-fiction)
Modern Library
NPR Top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy (flowchart/guide)
Time Magazine Top 100 Fantasy Book (did not review list even once)
joint winners of the Hugo and Nebula awards
David Brin's Greatest Sci-Fi List
Last 25 Years of American Fiction (NYT)
Book Crossing; Book Trading
listen to World Affairs Council programs
Join a book club like Stanford Book Salon (to do: go through past reading list; current through none) or restart CYA's book club ?

Articles
  • longform.org's best of lists: 2013 (read overall top ten, not any subcategories though), 2014, 2015, read through 2012 already

  • Magazines
  • Science News (current through Dec 2007), and also the features MathTrek and Food for Thought current through Nov 12 2005, plus 2007 through august (don't know about gap)
  • The Atlantic
  • The New Yorker
  • Mother Jones
  • Wired
  • Edge Magazine (rec from dad)
  • The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Propublica
  • Pacific Standard: The Science of Society
  • Games Magazine, or maybe Games World of Puzzles
  • Slate, Salon, New York Times, ...?
  • Potrero View
  • Gastronomica (James Beard winner for best food magazine) (the New Yorker for food)
  • Nautilus (looks like a good magazine; haven't read any issues)

    Classic & Classic-Related Non-Fiction

  • The Council Of Animals by Nick McDonell (rec from NPR) (good for kids and adults)
  • Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence (read selections, not whole book; follow advice from this NPR review)
  • How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World's Favorite Literary Form (sequel to How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines) by Thomas Foster
  • Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays or All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays by George Orwell ? (On The Media)
  • Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell (more about being impoverished than working in the restaurant industry) ?
  • The Outline of History: being a plain history of life and mankind by H.G. Wells ?
  • Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe ?
  • Handbook of Political Fallacies by Jeremy Bentham ?
  • Non-Fiction

  • The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit by John Petrocelli (style like Malcolm Gladwell)
  • Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein (rec by someone at work)
  • Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language bu Gretchen McCulloch
  • The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis (if reviews are good)
  • The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty by Peter Singer
  • Five Myths column at the Washington Post
  • Signs of Life: How Complexity Pervades Biology by Brian C. Goodwin, Ricard Sole, both of the Santa Fe Institute.
  • All I Did Was Ask by Terry Gross
  • Backyard Ballistics
  • Stealing the Network: How To Own A Continent
  • The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher ?
  • Sociological Justice by Donald Black
  • The Discoveries: Great Breakthroughs in 20th-century Science, Including the Original Papers edited by Alan Lightman
  • Monkeyluv by Robert Sapolsky
  • Nature Revealed: Selected Writings by Edward O. Wilson ?
  • A Mind of its Own by Cordelia Fine ?
  • Follies of the Wise by Frederick Crews ?
  • other Great Feuds books (besides mathematics) by Hal Hellman
  • Class Acts by Rachel Sherman ?
  • CIA Studies in Intelligence and also When everything is intelligence - nothing is intelligence, Strategic Warning: If Surprise is Inevitable, What Role for Analysis?
  • Science and Religion, edited by Paul Kurtz
  • Great Books by David Denby ?
  • The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs (partially done)
  • Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel ?
  • Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears by Tom Lutz ?
  • If You Can Read This: The Philosophy of Bumper Stickers by Jack Bowen ?
  • The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma ?
  • Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker by James McManus ?
  • Locked in the Cabinet by Robert Reich ?
  • Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species by Alan Green ?
  • Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google by Bonnie Brown ?
  • On Rereading by Patricia Spacks (haven't read reviews) ??
  • A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright (chapter on Easter Island; rec. by Edison) ?
  • Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway ?
  • Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health by David Michaels ?
  • Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz ? (rec from Hosken, Ted Talk)
  • The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt ?
  • In Manchuria: Life on a rice farm in China's northeast by Michael Meyer (heard segment on This American Life) or The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed ?
  • Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients by Ben Goldacre (author of Bad Science)
  • Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud by Robert Park
  • Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories by Sholem Aleichem
  • The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (possibly try the audiobook with Di Yin) (heard on science friday) ?
  • You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir by Felicia Day ? (because at the time of adding this it's not yet released)
  • Nature's Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive By Investing in Nature by Mark Tercek and Jonathan Adams (incredible book jacket endorsements)
  • The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers Who Sought to See the Future by Peter Moore
  • Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden by Terry Grosz (collection of short, true stories) (heard a story read on This American Life)
  • The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston
  • History

  • Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing by Marie Hicks ?
  • The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini inthe Spirit World by David Jaher
  • The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time by Maria Konnikova ?
  • or maybe The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man by David Maurer (due to this On The Media report) ?
  • Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman
  • King Hui: The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong by Jonathan Chamberlain ?
  • Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates by Adrian Johns (heard on BBC Thinking Allowed) ?
  • The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief or The Englishman's Daughter: A True Story of Love and Betrayal in World War I by Ben Macintyre
  • The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection by Dorothy Hoobler and Thomas Hoobler ?
  • Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum by Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino (also watch authors @ google talk)
  • The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece by Edward Dolnick ?
  • Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America by Peter Andreas (after reading, pay attention to this amazon review about things that were left out)
  • Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It by David Ewalt ?
  • The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon ?
  • The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding ?
  • Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake Harris ?
  • The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston
  • How Our Days Became Numbered: Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual by Dan Bouk
  • Urban Planning

  • BART: The Dramatic History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System by Michael Healy
  • Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives by Jarrett Walker (already read introduction) (if like, read newer posts on humantransit blog)
  • Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time by Jeff Speck
  • Shaping the City: Studies in History, Theory and Urban Design by Edward Robbins ?
  • Accidental City: The Transformation of Toronto by Robert Fulford ?
  • Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward Glaeser (neat facts but wandering argument) ?
  • Monument Wars: Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape by Kirk Savage ?
  • A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh (to be published in April 2016) ?
  • Maps, Geography, and Hiking

  • Secret Stairs: East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland by Charles Fleming or Berkeley Path Map, both from the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association
  • Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton
  • maybe The Map Book by Peter Barber ?
  • Sports

  • Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth by David Gessner
  • Boy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record-Breaker by Mark Cavendish
  • Work & Life

  • The Burnout Fix: Overcome Overwhelm, Beat Busy, and Sustain Success in the New World of Work by Jacinta Jiménez
  • Downshifting: How to Work Less and Enjoy Life More by John Drake
  • Overworked American by Juliet Schor
  • Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life by Joe Robinson
  • Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam
  • Working At Play: A History of Vacations in the United States by Cindy Aron ?
  • Happier: Can You Learn to be Happy? by Tal Ben-Shahar ?
  • Getting Things Done by David Allen
  • Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More by Stever Robbins (first two chapters are online
  • Psychology

  • Everybody Lies: What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (ex-googler) ?
  • You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice (or maybe (Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
  • Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave by Adam Alter (see discussion on Science Friday)
  • (part of) Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
  • Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
  • The Happiness Trip by Eduardo Punset ?
  • The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg (esp. first section) ?
  • Economics

  • Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
  • Trekonomics by Manu Saadia (already ordered) (if like it, read this article)
  • Forging Capitalism: Rogues, Swindlers, Frauds, and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ian Klaus
  • When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein
  • The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb ?
  • The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives by Michael Heller ?
  • The Undercover Economist or other books by Tim Harford (host of More Or Less)
  • Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan
  • SuperFreakonomics or Think Like a Freak by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner ?
  • Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg ?
  • Hidden Order by David Friedman ?
  • The Economic Naturalist by Robert Frank (? partially because heard much of the book discussed on Forum) (read through chapter two)
  • Mostly Harmless Econometrics by Angrist and Pischke (rec by givewell for useful book) ?
  • Experimental Conversations by Ogden (rec by givewell for "understanding different perspectives on the use of randomized controlled trials in development") ?
  • Medicine

  • articles by Atul Gawande
  • Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre (and likely other related books on Amazon)
  • How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine by Trisha Greenhalgh (rec by author of Bad Science)
  • Computer Science & Engineering

  • Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World by Cade Metz ?
  • Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer by Rob Manning and William Simon
  • Waltzing with Bears: managing risk on software projects by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister (rec by Larry Hosken) ?
  • History of Programming Langauges edited by Thomas Bergin and Rcihard Gibson
  • Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs by Scott Myers (rec by many people, including peter k.)
  • Law

  • articles by Jeffrey Toobin
  • A History of American Law (Third Edition) by Lawrence Friedman, then perhaps books on more specific subjects listed in the Recommended Reading section of his book Law in America: A Short Introduction
  • The Transformation of American Law by Morton Horwitz ?
  • The Partner Track: A Novel by Helen Wan ?
  • Language

  • Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
  • That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore
  • Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages by Ammon Shea ?
  • The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics by John Pollack (Stanford alumni; saw book in Stanford magazine)
  • Born to Kvetch by Michael Wex ?
  • Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean by Michael Erard ?
  • The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English by Henry Hitchings
  • Do You Speak American (DVD: 3 hours)
  • Writing

  • Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
  • On Writing Well by William Zinsser (read through chapter 14 (bits & pieces))
  • When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse by Ben Yagoda
  • Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done by Barbara Wallraff and Francine Prose ?
  • Food

    (many of these authors have other books too)
  • Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A. J. Liebling (classic, memoir)
  • The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten (review says it's much better than I would guess based on the title)
  • Nomfiction (collection by various authors) (available on inkshares) ?
  • Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture by Matt Goulding (food / history / culture travel book)
  • The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz
  • Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook (cookbook)
  • The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (massive tome, science-heavy recipes, veers American) ?
  • On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
  • The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu by Dan Jurafsky
  • Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Katz (semi-cookbook)
  • Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food or A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines or maybe No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach or ... by Anthony Bourdain
  • Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper's Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity (related to Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter) by Steve Dublanica
  • Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg
  • The Tummy Trilogy by Calvin Trillin
  • The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection (sequel to The Making of a Chef) or Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America) by Michael Ruhlman)
  • Beaten, Seared, and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America by Jonathan Dixon ?
  • Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner
  • Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life by Michael Lee West
  • Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Peregrinations of an Epicure by Joseph Wechsberg
  • Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin (read through p. 110 (hardcover) / finished end of "Nursery Food" chapter)
  • Washoku, Recipes From the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh (best Japanese cookbook in English according to this review)
  • Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop (also wrote well-regarded cookbooks such as "Land of Fish and Rice" (Shanghai and neighboring regions) and "Land of Plenty" (Sichuan))
  • In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
  • Food in Chinese Culture: Antropological and Historical Perspectives edited by K. C. Chang
  • Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink ?
  • The United States of Arugula by David Kamp ?
  • The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen or Complete Techniques (strong rec from serious eats) by Jacques Pepin ?
  • Julie and Julia by Julie Powell ?
  • Life Is Meals by James Salter ?
  • The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof ?
  • The Debt to Pleasure: A Novel by John Lanchester ?
  • What's Your Food Sign? by Alan Hirsch ?
  • Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan ?
  • Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck ?
  • The World in My Kitchen: The Adventures of a (Mostly) French Woman in New York by Colette Rossant ?
  • Two for the Road: Our Love Affair with American Food by Jane Stern and Michael Stern ?
  • Hotel Bemelmans by Ludwig Bemelmans ?
  • The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine by Steve Rinella ??
  • Diggin' In and Piggin' Out: The Truth About Food and Men by Roger Welsch ?
  • Food: The History of Taste by Paul Freedman (parts of) ?
  • Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes ?
  • Flash in the Pan: Life and Death of an American Restaurant by David Blum ?
  • The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz ?
  • Clementine in the Kitchen by Samuel Chamberlain ?
  • Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen by David Sax ?
  • Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food by Laura Silver (to be released in May 2014) ?
  • The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young (who also wrote other well-regarded cookbooks) ?
  • Finance & Markets & Management

  • Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre (rec by Marc Lau)
  • Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt and other books by Michael Lewis (author of The Big Short)?
  • The Wisdom of Crowds
  • Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management by Pfeffer and Sutton
  • The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias
  • Consider Your Options
  • The Four Pillars of Investing
  • The Strategy & Tactics of Pricing
  • The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham ?
  • More Than You Know: Finding Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places by Michael Mauboussin ?
  • Classic Fiction

  • something by Toni Morrison, perhaps Beloved? (though Roland recs Song of Solomon)
  • The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (more interesting characters and story than the musical) (rec by Di Yin)
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (via Di Yin and her dad)
  • The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (rec by Di Yin, Italy's Canterbury Tales)
  • Google's collection of classic scary stories
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (likely 1818 edition, per this article) (and after reading, read Lepore's commentary)
  • Stendhal: The Red and the Black (partially done, on book two, chapter four, The Hotel de la Mole, about 2/3rds the way through the chapter) (book salon)
  • stories by Chekhov (esp. translations by Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear)
  • Homer's Iliad (best translation for my purposes is by Fagles; Di Yin has a copy) (rec by How to Read Literature Like a Professor)
  • Circe by Madeline Miller (sounds like fun, though longer than I'd want: 400 pages) ?
  • other stories besides The Marquise of O and Michael Kohlhass by Heinrich von Kleist
  • Memorandum (an essay) by E. B. White (don't know what book it is published in)
  • The Octopus by Frank Norris ?
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez, perhaps Chronicle of a Death Foretold ?
  • The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
  • Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert ?
  • something by Lu Xun, perhaps The True Story of Ah Q or Diary of a Madman ?
  • Water Margin (a.k.a. Outlaws of the Marsh) by Shi Nai'An ?
  • Journey to the West (or simply: Monkey) by Wu Cheng'en (maybe translation by W.J.F. Jenner) ?
  • Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong (first and only English translation by Anna Holmwood) (extremely popular in China; endorsed by Di Yin and her dad)
  • Peony by Pearl Buck ?
  • The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
  • Life on The Mississippi by Mark Twain (rec by Jill L.) ?
  • Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad ?
  • other books by Jerome K. Jerome
  • Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (especially unabridged translation by Robin Buss)
  • Confessions of Zeno or Zeno's Conscience (same book, two translations) by Italo Svevo ?
  • A Thousand and One Nights by Scheherazade (perhaps translation The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights by Richard Burton)
  • Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov ?
  • Mahabharata (Indian epic) (rec by Pandu) ?
  • All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
  • The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
  • Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory (read Winchester Manuscript, not Caxton's print) (rec by How to Read Literature Like a Professor)
  • the story The Gingerbread House (appears in Pricksongs & Descants) by Robert Coover (rec by How to Read Literature Like a Professor)
  • Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (spotted on MPR) ?
  • Plays

  • Colonialism Is Terrible, But Pho is Delicious by Dustin Chinn ? (heard about at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival)
  • Rapture, Blister, Burn by Gina Giongriddo
  • more plays by Moliere: The School for Wives Criticized, The Impromptu at Versailles, The Misanthrope, The Clever Women
  • read (or see performed) Othello (partially done), King Henry IV, Part II (already saw part one), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Timon of Athens, Richard II, Love's Labour's Lost ("astonishing" yet "demanding" due to "linguistic density" and "pedantic humor") or other plays by Shakespeare
  • The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson (saw announced at OSF)
  • The African Company Presents Richard III by Carlyle Brown (play, spotted at Oregon Shakespeare Festival) ?
  • The Language Archive by Julia Cho (play, spotted at Oregon Shakespeare Festival) ?
  • Underneath The Lintel by Glen Berger
  • Peerless by Jiehae Park (premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre)
  • Fiction

  • The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig (bestseller; nice premise; may be predictable) ?
  • The Netanyahus: An Account of A Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of A Very Famous Family by Joshua Cohen ?
  • Years of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai by Qin Xiaolong (rec by Julian S.; Di Yin has a copy)
  • Black Chalk by Christopher Yates ?
  • Small World by David Lodge (sequel to Changing Places)
  • Moo by Jane Smiley (academic comedy like David Lodge) ?
  • something by Carl Hiaasen
  • something (fiction or non-) by David Foster Wallace (perhaps the other articles in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, some of which can be found online (in shorter forms) (consider pieces on state fair, television, and tennis)?
  • Fierce Pajamas (New Yorker fiction) (partially done)
  • Lifemanship or One-Upmanship by Stephen Potter
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles ?
  • The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber ?
  • something by William Boyd ?
  • Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas) (rec by Bryson "coming of age", or maybe the also recommended The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, or just maybe Bone Clocks)
  • The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead ?
  • Time's Arrow by Martin Amis ?
  • Letting Loose the Hounds (short stories) or The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint (novel) by Brady Udall
  • Cosmicomics (partially done) or The Baron in the Trees (or maybe The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount) by Italo Calvino
  • The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
  • The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen ?
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ?
  • Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley (heard on KQED interview)?
  • Blue Angel: A Novel by Francine Prose ?
  • When Red Is Black by Qiu Xiaolong ?
  • something by Mavis Gallant ?
  • The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God by Etgar Keret ?
  • Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom (nominally a children's book) (rec by John Lamping and wife)
  • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (nominally a children's book) ?
  • Historical Fiction

  • Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (first in a losely-tied-together historical fiction series--all books have same two protagonists--set on a Royal Navy ship in the early 19th century) (some other books in the series may be better but this is still considered a favorite by some) ?
  • An Officer and a Spy: A novel by Robert Harris (mostly non-fiction; about Dreyfus Affair in France)
  • Sci-Fi / Fantasy

  • Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (strong rec by Catherine and Bryson: "truly one of the best books I have ever read")
  • The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A. S. Byatt (mentioned by Di Yin as inspired for a Gaiman short story)
  • Klara and the Sun: A novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (narrated by an AI) (perhaps the best book by ths nobel laureate)
  • something by Charles Stross ?
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (who wrote The Martian)
  • Leviathan Wakes (first book in The Expanse series) by James S. A. Corey (also later made into a well-reviewed TV show) (rec by Gregory; tv show rec by various people too including him) ?
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (young adult; netflix made a series set in this world) ?
  • Cryptozoology for Beginners by Matt Harry (sequel to Sorcery for Beginners)
  • The Dark Elf trilogy by R. A. Salvatore (already read and own The Icewind Dale Trilogy) ?
  • other books or short story collections, perhaps in the Newford setting, by Charles de Lint ?
  • Magician by Raymond E. Feist (more popular than Eddings or Brooks, though I recall not wanting to try his books at the time; not sure why) ?
  • Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz (mentioned in article of authors who followed Terry Brooks exploding the fantasy genre)
  • Recursion: A Novel by Blake Crouch
  • All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (novella with great characterization that won hugo, nebula, etc.; heard about on NPR) ?
  • Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (sequel to The Hunger Games)
  • The End of Eternity: A Novel by Isaac Asimiov (supposed his best)
  • per NPR advice, start with Kindred or Parable of the Sower; also worthwhile: Bloodchild (novelette, Hugo and Nebula winner) or Parable of the Talents (Hugo and Nebula winner) by Octavia Butler
  • Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi
  • All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (interesting premise)?
  • Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (novella; multiple award winner)
  • Skavenger's Hunt by Mike Rich (lookup reviews after inkshares publishes it)
  • something by Sofia Samatar (lyrical writing, meandering stories) ?
  • Bookburners by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and more ?
  • Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (short story collection; named story recommended by Di Yin (!) and Bryson and basis for movie Arrival) (some complaints about quality of endings) or Exhalation (another short story collection, positively reviewed in detail on NPR)
  • The Lathe of Heaven, The Left Hand of Darkness ("classic"), or The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (short story) by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron (technically "young adult" but according to the MPR review I heard, "I would recommend this to any science fiction customers who come in.")
  • The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (first book in trilogy; apparently best book/series by an award-winning writer) (Hugo winner)
  • Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel by Robin Sloan (neat ideas but poor characterization and possibly a bad ending) (saw the author at a SPUR talk) ?
  • The Last Unicorn or other books by Peter Beagle ?
  • Super Extra Grande by Yoss (first translated novel by major Cuban sci-fi writer) ?
  • The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories by Angela Carter (beautiful styleist) (reworks five familiar fairy tales) ?
  • Version Control: A Novel by Dexter Palmer
  • Magic for Beginners: Stories by Kelly Link (strange supernatural stories) ?
  • Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
  • Wool by Hugh Howey (rec by interview candidate)
  • All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
  • Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (hard sci-fi) ?
  • Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (compared with Ursula K. Le Guin; includes touchy-feely sciences; unique world) ?
  • The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (setting compared with Gaiman's American Gods) (? because of the violence / cruelty) ?
  • The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu and Ken Liu (translated from Chinese; first non-English book to win Hugo award)
  • The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu (and other items by him, such as the "Dandelion Dynasty" epic if it gets finished)
  • The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (part of the set of Thursday Next novels) (rec by Di Yin)
  • Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton (first a pair of novels) (rec by Kevin S for high-quality space opera)
  • The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (Bryson says not as good as American Gods or Stardust)
  • Dragonflight (The Dragonriders of Pern series) by Anne McCaffrey (rec by Mary, among others)
  • Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (rec by Josh) (also rec by Deb, by only for their series by the author, not other ones)
  • The Golden Compass (a.k.a. Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman (rec by Melanie)
  • His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (rec by Sarah, Joseph's wife)
  • something by Lois McMaster Bujold (multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner)
  • something by Bruce Sterling (also a Hugo winer, among other awards) ?
  • World's End or The Summer Queen by Joan Vinge (Summer Queen rec by Christopher from work)
  • Mercury Rises by Robert Kroesse (sequel to Mercury Falls)
  • Fool Moon (Dresden Files series) or Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera series) by Jim Butcher
  • Liquid Fire by Anthony Francis
  • Arena (Magic - The Gathering, No. 1) by William Forstchen (yes, it actually has good reviews)
  • more books (Marooned in Realtime rec by Steven) by Vernor Vinge
  • A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire series a.k.a. Game of Thrones) by George R. R. Martin
  • Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
  • The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (supposedly not as good as American Gods)
  • more books by Stanislaw Lem (rec by many critics), perhaps Solaris (the only good translation of it is only available in e-book form) or Fiasco (rec by Science Friday)
  • something by James Branch Cabell (rec. by Gaiman)
  • something by Roger Zelazny (rec. by Gaiman)
  • something (especially Deathbird Stories) by Harlan Ellison (rec. by Gaiman)
  • Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, Book 2) (and, later, other books) by David Brin (yes, it's okay to start with this book)
  • Fire Watch (rec from Bryson), Lincoln's Dreams, or Impossible Things (or maybe Inside Job) or Blackout (followed by All Clear) (rec by Bryson) by Connie Willis
  • other books by Robert Heinlein (perhaps Double Star or The Door into Summer) (Bryson anti-recs The Number of the Beast)?
  • Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks (part of the Culture series; I read another book in the series: The Player of Games) (rec by Bryson for the whole series) ?
  • Spin by Robert Wilson ?
  • Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny ?
  • Permutation City by Greg Egan ?
  • Perdido Street Station (long and also supposedly overly descriptive, yet I read an excerpt and it didn't bother me) or Embassytown by China Mieville ??
  • On the Oceans of Eternity (series finale: Island in the Sea of Time) by S. M. Stirling
  • Into the Storm: Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson (rec by Edison) ?
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (found on my own, then rec by Bryson I think and rec by Rob from Montreal and then rec by Ojan)
  • We by Eugene Zamiatin (rec by Margaret Atwood) (inspiration for 1984 and Brave New World)
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (rec by Kevin S for its style; don't read it as straight fantasy) ?
  • The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks ??
  • The Listeners by James Gunn (inspiration for SETI) ??
  • Floating Worlds by Cecelia Holland (rec by Kim Stanley Robinson) ?
  • Dark Universe by Daniel Galouye (rec by Richard Dawkins) ?
  • other books by Tad Williams in the To The Green Angle Tower world. (Note: I tried a different series by him, Otherworld, and didn't like it.) ?
  • final books in Robert Jordan's series (completed by Brandon Sanderson)
  • In the Beginning...was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson (technically non-fiction) (possibly out-dated)
  • other books such as The Lions of al-Rassan, Under Heaven (rec by Kevin S: great), The Summer Tree, Ysabel (rec by Kevin S: good), or River of Stars (similar setting to Under Heaven) by Guy Gavriel Kay, and perhaps the essays and speeches on his web site
  • more books by Harry Turtledove ?
  • Far Future edited by Gregory Benford ?
  • Mystery

  • Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah (one of several new authorized Poirot novels; this one sounds interesting) ?
  • Magpie Murders: A Novel, The Sentence Is Death (or other books) by Anthony Horowitz
  • books by Jasper Fforde in the Thursday Next series such as The Eyre Affair or Something Rotten (rec by Di Yin) (for "fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse" according to amazon) (counts as Sci-Fi too)
  • Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (such as Hound of the Baskervilles)
  • other books such as The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte (author of The Flanders Panel)
  • Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham (if the movie is good; this follows events there) ?
  • Puzzles, Math, and Statistics

  • Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences: An Introduction by Guide Imbens and Donald Rubin (second-hand rec via Jon)
  • Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (rec by Bryson) (for when kids are older; "reading age: 9-14")
  • Thematic Mapping by Kenneth Field (forthcoming) (person who made this variety of election maps) ?
  • The Riddler: Fantastic Puzzles from FiveThirtyEight by Oliver Roeder
  • The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Muller
  • Mathematics and Its History by John Stillwell (Chapter 21 is about "ideals" restoring prime factorization) (rec by commenter in response to my question on a Quanta Magazine article) (only available in person at Main SF Library)
  • A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age by Daniel Levitin (not many reviews) ?
  • Statistics Done Wrong by Alex Reinhart
  • How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg
  • Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games or The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems or similar
  • Puzzlecraft: The Ultimate Guide on How to Construct Every Kind of Puzzle by Mike Selinker and Thomas Snyder
  • Adventures in Puzzling: Multi-Puzzle Extravaganzas for the Brave, Bold & Bright by Patrick Berry (rec by Larry H)
  • The Simple Book of Not-So-Simple Puzzles by Serhiy Grabarchuk (and others) (rec by Will Shortz)
  • Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities by Jason Shiga (rec by Larry H) (also, see thread at work) (also online, but not as "fun as the physical, color version")
  • Masquerade by Kit Williams (book with puzzles) ?
  • A Treasure's Trove or Secrets of the Alchemist Dar by Michael Stadther (book with puzzles)?
  • The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin (novel with puzzles) (a la The Westing Game)
  • Design

  • The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell (rec by Larry Hosken)
  • Visual Art

  • more Oishinbo by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaku
  • Picture Titles: How and Why Western Paintings Acquired Their Names by Ruth Yeazell
  • What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions or How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe (xkcd guy)
  • a Peanuts compendium by Charles Sculz
  • latest Piled Higher & Deeper (PhD) books by Jorge Cham
  • Scenes from an Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine (rec by Hosken)
  • Zits (Sketchbook 1-6)
  • Jon Stewart's America
  • a coffee-table book on Chihuly (e.g., de Young catalog)
  • What It Is by Lynda Barry
  • Humor

  • Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland: More Personal Ads from the London Review of Books (sequel to They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books) by David Rose
  • Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School by Benjamin Franklin (but don't read prologue or closing piece by Japiske)
  • maybe Give War a Chance or All the Trouble in the World: The Lighter Side of Overpopulation, Famine, Ecological Disaster, Ethnic Hatred, Plague, and Poverty by P. J. O'Rourke ?
  • Parenting

  • The ABC of It: Why Children's Books Matter by Leonard Marcus and Lisa Von Drasek
  • What Great Parents Do: 75 Simple Strategies for Raising Kids Who Thrive by Erica Reischer (basic)
  • Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, 6th Edition: Birth to Age 5 by American Academy Of Pediatrics
  • The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year by Armin Brott (similar to The Joy of Fatherhood) (not at local library; try reading it using amazon's look inside feature) ?
  • Baby-Led Weaning by Tracey Murkett and Gill Rapley (red by Deb)
  • How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
  • The Parenthood Decision by Beverly Engel
  • The Journey to Parenthood: Myths, Reality and What Really Matters by Diana Barnes, Leigh Balber, and Roberta Michnick
  • Two Is Enough: A Couple's Guide to Living Childless by Choice by Laura Scott
  • Baby Not on Board: A Celebration of Life without Kids by Jennifer Shawne ?
  • Your Baby and Child by Penelope Leach (rec by parents)
  • With/For Kids

  • The Red Ear Blows Its Nose by Robert Schechter (poems) (heard about in Harvard magazine)