Book Recommendations

Sorry about the posting confusion this week. I'll be out on Monday here and on Critical Futures, but everything will be back to normal on Tuesday.

This is a post that I've been working on for a while, and I'm not sure that it's done but I'm fresh out of ideas for more book recommendations. But then, this is a blog, and there's a comment form for a reason, so if I've been remiss and forgotten something important, please do remind me. Enjoy!

I have perpetual fears about not being well read enough. I think this is mostly an existential problem, as I read a bunch, and I've read a lot of stuff in my day. But there's always more, particularly as I think about shifting my academic/intellectual specialty. In any case, I found myself a few weeks ago recommending a science fiction novel that I had read,1 and I thought it might be good to post a list of recommendations. Not just "books I like," but "books I'd tell you to read if you were looking for something specific."

For people who like military SF and some people who like Heinlein, [John Scalzi's Old Man's War](http://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-Scalzi/dp/0765309408/tychoish-20/ "Amazon.com: Old Man's War: John Scalzi: Books") is a great deal of fun.

For a great novella/tightly wound plot, [Samuel R. Delany's Empire Star](http://www.amazon.com/Babel-17-Empire-Star-Samuel-Delany/dp/0375706690/tychoish-20 "Amazon.com: Babel-17/Empire Star: Samuel R. Delany: Books") and for lingustic sf, the other half of the book, [Babel-17](http://www.amazon.com/Babel-17-Empire-Star-Samuel-Delany/dp/0375706690/tychoish-20 "Amazon.com: Babel-17/Empire Star: Samuel R. Delany: Books"). I'm a huge fan. For anyone interested in urban systems and community, [Times Square Red/Times Square Blue Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Times-Square-Red-Blue/dp/0814719201/tychoish-20 "Amazon.com: Times Square Red, Times Square Blue: Samuel Delany, Samuel R. Delany: Books") is a great read, and is incidentally the most cited source of my college career.

For a very smart, but also very comforting and enjoyable space opera trilogy, Melissa Scott's Five-Twelfths of Heaven Trilogy can't be beat. Her [Trouble and her Friends](http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Her-Friends-Melissa-Scott/dp/0812522133/tychoish-20 "Amazon.com: Trouble and Her Friends: Melissa Scott: Books") is also a great example of what cyberpunk can be when it's not trying too hard to be the next New Thing.

I don't find myself in a position to recommend mainstream fiction very much, but I am a big fan of Anne Lamott's [All New People](http://www.amazon.com/All-New-People-Anne-Lamott/dp/1582430543/tychoish-20/ "Amazon.com: All New People: Anne Lamott: Books"), and Barbara Kingsolver's [Prodigal Summer](http://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Summer-Novel-Barbara-Kingsolver/dp/0060959037/tychoish-20/ "Amazon.com: Prodigal Summer: A Novel: Barbara Kingsolver: Books"), which are both clever and fun, and are unabashedly delightful.

Books about writing? Five or more years ago, I would have had a list of books about writing, but as a genre I'm not particularly convinced of their worth/utility or frankly interesting-ness. Anne Lamott's [Bird by Bird](http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/tychoish-20 "Amazon.com: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life: Anne Lamott: Books"), is simply amazing, though not particularly for the specific writing related hints. I've always thought that Stephen King's writing book is pompous and sort of unfocused, but admittedly I couldn't even force myself to finish it.

That's what come to mind, do you all have any good recommendations?