By my count I’ve read 58 of Amazon’s 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime. Many of them I enjoyed; some I did not.
I’ve started some others and not wanted to continue. I own a couple more and have never got to them because they’re not really my thing. There are others that I know I won’t like, so I’ve never even tried.
I don’t think I noticed any of them that I’d never considered reading.
I think what I’m saying is: it’s OK to have your taste and not like everything that other people consider amazing. And this is pretty much a list of the usual suspects.
You’re way ahead of me: 35 finished, maybe another dozen begun and abandoned because they didn’t float my boat.
I’ve read 46, with several more on that list in my to-read pile. But some I just know I am not interested in.
76 attempted 72 completed. About 10 I probably won’t ever bother to try unless I end up needing to read them for a book club or a class.
I’ve started 48 of them, but didn’t finish several. Some of the ones I haven’t read were by authors I’ve read other things by and either I wasn’t impressed or I just didn’t get around to reading everything else they’ve written. A few are on the list of things I’d like to get around to reading.
If I was doing a list like this, I wouldn’t necessarily pick the same books by some of the authors (The Colour of Magic is one of the weakest Pratchetts, for example). I’d include more older books – the oldest here is from the 60s, I think – like C.L. Moore and maybe Murray Leinster, though his short stories are stronger than his novels. I’d include some more obscure books and authors, including more women, POC and queer authors, not to fill some kind of diversity quota but because there are some tremendous books that have been ghettoized and deserve a wider audience.
Maybe I should do my Top 100 just for interest’s sake.
Mike Reeves-McMillan do it!
Go for it! I’m always interested in Top 100 lists of this variety.
But I feel obliged to point out that several books on the Amazon list are older than the 60s: Tolkien, Clarke, Huxley, Bradbury, Orwell, Wells, Bester, Verne, Heinlein, Lewis.
Oh, you’re quite right, there are some older ones.
I agree that Color of Magic is not a strong Pratchett choice at all.
Yeah, I can’t agree with the choice for Pratchett either. Sure, it’s the first Discworld book, but it’s also my least favorite. I’ve started people on Small Gods (which was my first), Soul Music, Guards! Guards!, and even Is That My Cow?, but I tend to consider Color of Magic to be more for completionests.