A few of you raised very good suggestions that I just had to add to my list and that got me thinking about even more...guess this is going to be an on-going process... so please leave a comment or Twitter me your thoughts!
Doctor Who and The Horror of Fang Rock by Terrance Dicks
As random as this may seem to most non-Whovians (they didn't have that term when I was at the height of my Doctor Who fanboy fervor!), I really have to include Doctor Who and The Horror of Fang Rock because it was the first Doctor Who book I ever owned! Up until Fang Rock I didn't even know Doctor Who books existed! From that point on I set about buying every Doctor Who book that they had in print.
One of my biggest regrets was donating all 200 of the books in my collection to charity when I moved to the U.S. Still, perhaps there's another 8 year old boy out there right now that's discovering them all over again! Lucky little bastard! ;-)
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
chrissmiths wisely pointed out that I'd left the geek literary god Neal Stephenson from my list...I am suitably shamed! Cryptonomicon is an amazing blend of historical and futuristic fiction...it's a daunting looking book if that makes any sense, but very readable, very smart and very funny. The first of his books that I read was another cyberpunk novel called "Snow Crash" that I remember loving at the time!
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
Ah the early days of the tech boom! I loved this book...it made programming both banal and beautiful!
Code by Charles Petzold
This shows just how much of a nerd I am...loved this book and boy does it make you feel so superior!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Don't Panic! Thanks IIriaa for reminding me! The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my absolute favourites! Adams has created the Fawlty Towers
As Tolkien, Adams and Azimov have already been mentioned, one cannot forget the great Roger Zelazny and "The Chronicles of Amber" series ... classic geekness.
After all, who wouldn't want to warp space and time by just going for a walk? ... sure would make my evening strolls with the Mrs and wee one (1.66 of one) a bit more interesting!
Richard.
Posted by: Richard T | 04/05/2010 at 10:49 PM
I read Tim Powers every year. He is such a fantastic storyteller, and I think my favourite would have to be Earthquake Weather and it's sequel, Expiration Date.
Also for some Canadian talent we have Robert Charles Wilson who is fantastic and the often overlooked Nalo Hopkinson. There are many others, but I thought I would throw out just a few to start :)
Posted by: Sue | 04/09/2010 at 02:50 PM
ok been watching the comments for a bit now, and noone seems to have mentioned Anne McCaffrey, why i don't know, but she is one of my all time favorites, despite her books being mostly for teens.
I can strongly recommend everyone to read both her pern series (it has dragons!) and crystal singer series.
Posted by: Tyste | 05/31/2010 at 01:18 PM
One I like is "House of leaves", by Mark Z. Danielewski, this is a truly unique book...
It's read only by nerds...
Maybe these won't count bc they are non fiction, but great nerdbooks: "I am A strange loop" or "GEB" by Douglas Hofstadter.
And one I have for the sake of having it, is "PI volume 2". I know it's completely useless(to me) but I like to show it off at any occasion I get... ;)
Posted by: Toby Elliot Newt | 06/10/2010 at 12:32 PM
I can truly recommend anything by Douglas Adams (Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency is just brilliant, as is the BBC radio adaptation with Billy Boyd), and also Jasper Fforde, Philip Pullman etc.
But I cannot believe Terry Pratchett did not make the list. He has written lots and lots of clever, silly books. Please do check him out (it's for your own good, really).
Posted by: wavebunny | 08/04/2010 at 02:37 PM
I'm getting a kindle for Christmas and, after reading your list here I've realized that I NEED a "Don't Panic" skin for it. If I can't find one I may have to see if I can get one custom made. ;) Maybe a Don't panic screen saver would do instead. I'll have to think about that.
Posted by: Cdar2 | 11/15/2010 at 06:14 PM
Doctor Who is just such a really great book. I recommend it to all of you that didn't read it...It's a must read in a lifetime
Posted by: FreePorn | 11/16/2010 at 06:20 AM
HHR is close in my top 10 favorites! My brother got me a version of it one Christmas that looked suspiciously like a Bible. :) I recommend "The Night Angel Trilogy" by Brent Weeks and the "Temeraire" series by Naomi Novik.
Posted by: Kara | 12/12/2010 at 04:58 PM
HHG* Excuse me. :)
Posted by: Kara | 12/12/2010 at 04:59 PM
Those are my go-to geek books when I want a quick read, since they usually only take me a couple of hours to read.
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