Books finished in 1994

1. The Practical Botanist by Rick Imes
   Novice level (and suitable for kids) treatment of the study of Botany. Nice overview. Very much enough to encourage me to seek out more sophisticated sources.

2. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (Audio)
   Annie Dillard is always a joy, and this memoir is no exception. Many of the images from this book have stayed very clearly in my mind. Got to read it from the page now.

3. Yendi by Steven Brust (Repeat)
   Second book in Brust's Vlad Taltos series. They're all great fun.

4. Aegypt by John Crowley
   The first book of an intended quartet. Crowley is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of his best books. It takes some constitution to read this book, but the writing is so beautiful and the characters so real that it's worth it.

5. Xanadu ed. by Jane Yolen
   A collection of fantasy short stories. Some real gems. I'll put a list of authors here sometime when I think of it.

6. Life After God by Douglas Coupland
   Coupland's third book. This is a collection of short stories that continue his chronicle of generation X. Not his best, but still enjoyable.

7. Xanadu 2 ed. by Jane Yolen
   see Xanadu.

8. In the Palaces of Memory by George Johnson
   Picked this up because I was intrigued by John Crowley's use of the memory palace concept in Little, Big. It was interesting at the time, but I don't remember much of it ;-). Summary of current research into the workings of the brain in general and memory in particular.

9. Jesus Tales by Romulus Linney
   Short stories presenting fictional accounts of events that may or may not have been part of the life of Jesus. These are riotously funny, but not at all disrespectful of organized Christianity's views of Jesus (IMHO). Well worth reading.

10. Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
    Second book in Robinson's Mars trilogy. Suffers from middle book syndrome in that it's very bridge-like. The other reason I'm indifferent about the book is that he spends WAY WAY too much time with Maya as the viewpoint character, and the woman is just despicable.

11. Brokedown Palace by Steven Brust (Repeat)
    This one is actually set on the same world as the Vlad Taltos books. I believe this is loosely based on a Hungarian folktale. Like all other Brust books, a must read.

12. 500 Years After by Steven Brust
    Sequel to The Phoenix Guards, this continues Brust's pastiche of Alexandre Dumas' Musketeers series. The writing style is positively addicting. Addicting you say? Gods, I think I have said nothing else for the past hour!

13. The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed by John McPhee
    Account of an attempt to market a flying machine which is half dirigible, half airfoil. I found this book terribly depressing. It's an example of our society's reluctance to accept anything new regardless of its demonstrated merits. Great reading.

14. Illusions by Richard Bach (Repeat)
    I first read this book in High School, and it's probably shaped my thinking about the universe more than I'd like to admit. Bach's philosophical books (I use the word advisedly in the event that there are any Real Philosophers (TM) reading this) have converged over the years on a fairly specific interpretation of the meaning of life. See Running From Safety for his most recent refinement.

15. The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
    Swashbuckling fun.

16. The Second Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
    More swashbuckling fun.

17. The Third Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen
    Yet more swashbuckling fun.

18. Seventeen Short Plays by Romulus Linney
    Can't remember details of these, only that I liked them as I read them.

19. Bone Dance by Emma Bull
    The first book I read by Emma Bull. Great post-apocalyptic coming-of-age adventure story. Human scale heroics. Lots of other books by Bull follow. I have a quote from this book on the wall of my office:

    There's a difference between getting money for what you do and doing it for money.
    If you don't do it for love, or because you think it needs doing, get out and let somebody else do it.
    If nobody else does it, maybe that means it shouldn't be done.
    

20. Falcon by Emma Bull
    Quite similar thematically to Bone Dance, but wildly different setting and plot devices. This book hinges on a Big Secret and I can't remember what it is, so I guess I'll have to go read it again to see if it's cheesy or cool.

21. The Control of Nature by John McPhee
    Talks about flood control on the Mississippi River, an attempt to hold back the lava flowing from an erupting volcano in Iceland, and the incredible persistence of residents of Los Angeles in living in an area that is falling apart before their eyes. Another McPhee inspection of the lunacy of the human animal.

22. The Unicycle Book by Jack Wiley
    What it says. How to ride and build unicycles.

23. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
    

24. The Evolution of Useful Things by Henry Petroski
    

25. An Olympic Enchantment by Ruby El Hult
    

26. Luck of the Wheels by Megan Lindholm
    

27. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
    

28. Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill by Steven Brust (Repeat)
    

29. Dogbert's Clues for the Clueless by Scott Adams
    

30. Black Hearts and Slow Dancing by Earl Emerson
    

31. Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White
    

32. The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
    

33. Shave the Whales by Scott Adams
    

34. Build a Better Life by Stealing Office Supplies by Scott Adams
    

35. Always Postpone Meetings with Time-wasting Morons by Scott Adams
    

36. More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
    

37. The Van by Roddy Doyle
    

38. Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz
    

39. Finder by Emma Bull
    

40. Borderland ed. by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold
    

41. Elsewhere by Will Shetterly
    

42. The Pagemaster by Brian Kirschner
    

43. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
    

44. The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
    

45. The Civilized Engineer by Samuel Florman
    

46. Interface by Stephen Bury
    

47. The Northern Exposure Book by Louis Chunovic
    

48. Selling the Dream by Guy Kawasaki
    

49. Case of the Toxic Spell Dump by Harry Turtledove
    

50. Running From Safety by Richard Bach
    

51. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
    

52. Rivethead by Ben Hamper
    

53. And the Trees Clapped Their Hands by Virginia Stem Owens
    

54. The Complete Guide to Bowling Principles by Allen and Ritger
    

55. The Starship and the Canoe by Kenneth Brower
    

56. The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
    

57. Tales of Neveryon by Samuel R. Delany (Repeat)
    

58. Bowling for Everyone by Gene Berger
    

59. The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe
    

60. Jacob the Baker by Noah ben Shea
    

61. Mermaids by Patty Dann
    

62. Your Money Or Your Life by Dominguez and Robin
    

63. Baidarka by George Dyson
    

64. Night of Power by Spider Robinson
    

65. Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
    

66. Paddle Routes of Western Washington by Verne Huser
    

67. Nevernever by Will Shetterly
    

68. Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler
    

69. A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
    

70. Babycakes by Armistead Maupin
    

71. River Rats by Caroline Stevermer