The Ziggurat of Doom

Continuing, after a natural vitamins for dogs

long hiatus, my ongoing list of ways to be more like me: books.

This is not a list of my favorite books. This is a list of books that have had a substantial impact on the way I view the world. More than that, it’s a list of books that I think most people should be familiar with - I’m not going to say that reading these books will make you smarter, more rational, more interesting, increase your sex appeal and boost your net worth into the seven-digit realm. But I’m not not saying that either.

This list is subject to additions as things occur to me.

Core Reading: Books you are not permitted not to read.

• Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadler (defies classification): Possible the most important book ever written.
• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins (evolution/genetics): Foundation for a lot of modern thought in evolutionary biology and genetics.
• The Blind Watchmaker, by Richard Dawkins (evolution): Anyone who wants to even pretend to have an informed opinion on evolution should read this book.
• Permutation City, by Greg Egan (hard transhumanist sf): One of the most thought-provoking scifi stories out there, and excellent writing. Every idea in this book could be a novel in itself - Egan’s deft weaving of complex ideas is what marks it as a masterwork.
• True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier, by Vernor Vinge, et. al. (technology essays): Various essays by luminaries in the field look at technology and the future. The titular short story “True Names and Other Dangers” is among my favorites, and is probably the foundation for a Singularitarian outlook.
• The Lord of the Rings and assorted histories, lexicons, short stories, collections, etc., by J. R. R. Tolkien (epic high fantasy): Oh, come on. Classic.

Supplementals: Books that matter a lot, and should be read when you get the chance.

• The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand (philosophy): I prefer this over her longer and more strident Atlas Shrugged, mainly because it has an actual plot and and characters and suchlike. And yes, she was crazy. She was, to steal a term, a barking moonbat. But she also wrote a lot of things that needed writing.
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein (scifi): Practically a modern classic, especially of the libertarian movement. Also, the right way to run a revolution, and a damn good story. Written in Heinlein’s pre-brain-eater period.
• Engines of Creation, by Erik K. Drexler (nanotech): The nanotech book - Drexler practically created the industry. Before the technical stuff, this was a look at a nanotech future.
• Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (modern fantasy/religion/satire): One of a very few books that, after my first reading, I immediately flipped back to the front and started again. Hilarious, smart, and so sharp it’s frightening.
• The New Hacker’s Dictionary, by Eric S. Raymond et. al (lexicon/philosophy/stuff): More than a dictionary, an inspiration.