This is a list of my personal favourites. I have selected them simply by memory. I reckon if I can still remember them, they must have had an impact on me.

Some are Hugo Prize winning novels, others are just quirky stories that I enjoyed. To make it simple for myself they are not in any particular order.

1) The Foundation Trilogy - Isaac Asimov
These were the books that converted me to a full on Science Fiction fan. It was about ‘Psycho-history’- predicting the future. The Foundation was a planet with every square metre covered by libraries of books.

Normally a Beatles album contained all Lennon & McCartney songs with one or two by Harrison, (‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun’ on Abbey Road). Harrison always felt like the junior partner to Lennon and McCartney when it came to song-writing.

‘All Things Must Pass’ was George Harrison’s first solo album where he was able to record all the half-finished songs he was unable to get onto any Beatles record. The result in 1970 was a triple album, and one of the finest recorded by any of the solo Beatles.

Titles are important, because many potential readers don’t get past this first line.  So It’s worth spending some time thinking of a title that would attract as many readers as possible.  Be careful if you try and use humour in your title though, it could turn away more people than it attracts. Humour is a very personal thing, and should be used sparingly.

I was reminded of this by a recommended read for my local book club; ‘Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks’ by Alan Coren. I just didn’t like the title, it sounded frivolous and boring. I’m not interested in chocolate OR cuckoo clocks.

I recently wrote a post about a religious problem that has puzzled me for ages. When I looked for further information about the crappy paperback that raised the problem, I was astonished to see that the cheapest price on Amazon was £44!!

The only reason I still have this paperback is because I find it impossible to throw books away. But unknown to me this bit of pulp fiction I bought in a junk shop in the 1970s is out of print, and I suppose because of Dan Brown and the popularity of “The Da Vince Code”, conspiracy theories are back in fashion.

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” 

Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real Mockingbird of this pulitzer prize winning novel, Tom Robinson a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl.

As I read this book I remembered the film with Gregory Peck
who portrays one of the great heroes of literature, a lawyer whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice and hypocrisy.

The Future Homemakers of America  was written by Laurie Graham in 2001. It’s a friendship saga that lasts over a couple of generations. Starting in East Anglia, UK, where the USA Air Force was based to combat the ‘Russkies’ during the 1950s Cold War.

The story follows the American women married to USA pilots, who travelled to different foreign bases with their husbands.  Laurie Graham takes us through Korea and Vietnam, revisting the Cold War years when the world was on the edge of destruction.

Although I’m an atheist I am interested in religious beliefs, metaphysics and philosophy. I am however a lazy atheist, so I like to explore these concepts, NOT in academic text books, but in science fiction novels.

CONTACT is a novel by the late scientist Carl Sagan about first contact with alien lifeforms. Sagan’s enthusiasm and belief in Alien Intelligences led to the establishment of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence).

Contact was an excellent science fiction novel exploring themes of religious belief, science, rationality, faith and god. Contact is also a hollywood film staring Jodie Foster. The film version however, left out my favourite part of the book.

Some of the most boring blogs you can find, are those where every post is urging you to BUY, BUY, BUY, this latest product that you absolutely can’t be without.

These articles could be classified as Product Reviews, EXCEPT you never read a bad review! After all, the blogger won’t make any money out of saying how bad something is.

What’s  worse than the blatant sales pitch, are those blogs where the reviews aren’t even personal. They are just a rehash of the products sales page, or a PLR article scattered with BUY buttons.

I like to read for pleasure, and Science Fiction gives me the greatest pleasure of all………..Sorry, SECOND greatest pleasure; (Thanks for reminding me Margaret).

When I choose a science fiction book I usually go for a title with ‘God’ or ‘Eternity’ or ‘Infinity’ in it. I want to travel to the furthest reaches of human imagination. I usually enjoy the book but I’m almost inevitably disappointed by the conclusion. 

I’m looking for the answer to “life, the universe and everything” (as Douglas Adams would say), but it’s obviously naive of me to think a science fiction author has got all the answers.

I read quite a lot, but the majority of  it has been Marvel Comics and Science Fiction books. When I first joined my book club, (which is mainly populated by female teachers), I didn’t think they would like such a ‘boys only’ genre, so I picked other books for the group to read.

My first choice was I thought fairly ‘safe’. “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey. This was also a great film with Jack Nicholson. The book however gives terrifying descriptions of probably the most evil monster in fiction: Nurse Ratched.