Books I Fancy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Life Under Glass by Abigail Alling & Mark Nelson

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Any of "The Cat Who" books by Lilian Jackson Braun

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff by Richard Carlson, PH.D.

My Sister the Moon by Sue Harrison

Brother Wind by Sue Harrison

Myst The Book of Atrus by Rand and Robin Miller

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

The Star Trek Encyclopedia by Michael & Denise Okuda

1984 by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms. (book description from Amazon.com)

Life Under Glass
by Abigail Alling & Mark Nelson
Planet in a bottle. Eden revisited. Laboratory under glass. The largest self-sustaining closed ecological system ever made. Biosphere 2 is many things to many people. From its half-acre farm to its coral reef to its emerald forest- this unique research facility has proven itself a marvel of human engineering and a testament to the human imagination. For two years, four men and four women lived and worked inside the structure, recycling their air, water, food and wastes and setting a world record for living in an isolated environment. But what has this giant glass-and-steel greenhouse been to those most intimately involved with it? What has it meant to the first crew who studied and cared for it? What was it really like sealed inside a giant laboratory for twenty-four months? In Life Under Glass crew members Abigail Alling and Mark Nelson with co-captain Sally Silverstone present the full account of those two remarkable years. From the struggles of growing their own food, to learning how to help sustain their life-giving atmosphere, the general reader is offered a rare glimpse into how a group of dedicated researchers managed to surprise the world and fulfill their dream. Other crews may come and go, but no one else will face the risks, the uncertainties, and the challenges that this new breed of explorers did on Biosphere 2's maiden voyage. Here is the fascinating story of how it all appeared- living under glass. (book description from Amazon.com)

Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy." Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.(book description from Amazon.com)

Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury
A masterpiece of modern Gothic literature, Something Wicked This Way Comes is the memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a "dark carnival" one Autumn midnight. How these two innocents, both age 13, save the souls of the town (as well as their own), makes for compelling reading on timeless themes. What would you do if your secret wishes could be granted by the mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark? Bradbury excels in revealing the dark side that exists in us all, teaching us ultimately to celebrate the shadows rather than fear them. In many ways, this is a companion piece to his joyful, nostalgia-drenched Dandelion Wine, in which Bradbury presented us with one perfect summer as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old. In Something Wicked This Way Comes, he deftly explores the fearsome delights of one perfectly terrifying, unforgettable autumn. --Stanley Wiater

The "Cat Who" Mysteries
by Lilian Jackson Braun

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff
by Richard Carlson, PH.D.


My Sister the Moon
by Sue Harrison
An abused and unwanted daughter of the First Men Tribe, young Kiin knows the harsh realities of life in a frozen land at the top of the world. In an age of ice nine millenia past, her destiny is tied to the brave sons of orphaned chagak and her chieftain mate kayugh -- one to whom, kiin is promised, the,other for whom she yearns. But the evil that her own family spawned drags the tormented young woman far from her people -- where savage cruelties, love and fate will strenghten and change her... and give her the courage to fight for the future of her own helpless progeny.(book description from Amazon.com)

Brother Wind
by Sue Harrison
In a time before time at the top of the world — in a harsh and unforgiving age of ice — courage will sustain three remarkable souls through trials as bitter as the chill winds of the eternal winter.Claimed by a brutal, despised enemy, Kiin must sacrifice her love for the sake of her tribe and the safety of her children. Left widowed and helpless amongthe Whale Hunters, Kukutux now faces the impossible challenge of surviving alone. While Samiq, wounded and a hunter no more, must take up the mantle of leadership and guide a devastated people abandoned by their gods. At the dawn of humanity, their extraordinary destinies intertwine. And through hardship and adventure, they endure — confronting the cruelty of man, fate and nature with the indomitable strength of heart and spirit.(book description from Amazon.com)

Myst The Book of Atrus
by Rand & Robin Miller

Cosmos
by Carl Sagan
The best-selling science book ever published in the England language, COSMOS is a magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science. Brilliant and provocative, it traces today's knowledge and scientific methods to their historical roots, blending science and philosophy in a wholly energetic and irresistible way.(book description from Amazon.com)

The Star Trek Encyclopedia - A Reference Guide to the Future
by Michael & Denise Okuda
From 'audet IX to Zytchin III, this book covers it all. This is the ultimate reference book for all Star Trek fans! The thousands of photos and hundreds of illustrations place the Star Trek universe at your fingertips. Planets and stars, weapons and ships, people and places are just part of the meticulous research and countless cross-reference that fill this book.(book description from Amazon.com)

1984
by George Orwell
This novel was published in 1949 as a warning about the menaces of totalitarianism. The novel is set in an imaginary future world that is dominated by three perpetually warring totalitarian police states. The book's hero, Winston Smith, is a minor party functionary in one of these states. His longing for truth and decency leads him to secretly rebel against the government. Smith has a love affair with a like-minded woman, but they are both arrested by the Thought Police. The ensuing imprisonment, torture, and reeducation of Smith are intended not merely to break him physically or make him submit but to root out his independent mental existence and his spiritual dignity. Orwell's warning of the dangers of totalitarianism made a deep impression on his contemporaries and upon subsequent readers, and the book's title and many of its coinages, such as NEWSPEAK, became bywords for modern political abuses.(book description from The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature)

Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Since its publication in 1946, George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong has rivaled Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea as the Shortest Serious Novel It's OK to Write a Book Report About. (The latter is three pages longer and less fun to read.) Fueled by Orwell's intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn. All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol, wear clothes, sleep in a bed, or kill a fellow four-footed creature. Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends and the two-legged are, by definition, the enemy. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. "We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of the farm depend on us. Day and night, we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." While this swinish brotherhood sells out the revolution, cynically editing the Seven Commandments to excuse their violence and greed, the common animals are once again left hungry and exhausted, no better off than in the days when humans ran the farm. Satire Animal Farm may be, but it's a stony reader who remains unmoved when the stalwart workhorse, Boxer, having given his all to his comrades, is sold to the glue factory to buy booze for the pigs. Orwell's view of Communism is bleak indeed, but given the history of the Russian people since 1917, his pessimism has an air of prophecy.(book description from Amazon.com)