So, how many of yours are the same as mine?

Just curious... :) A lot of the books in my 50 favourites are classics that I read oh-so-long ago...What does that mean about science fiction today? Or is it just me? Maybe I'm not picking up some of the better books written more recently. I read a lot of other things too.

How many?
not many we share three:
Stranger in a strang eland which I disliked
LoTR which isn't SF
and Queen of Angels, which I also wasn't fond of, though it is an interesting world, and I do like a lot of Bear's other works

Interesting. I've read 15 of your 50 and got some ideas for things to try, especially Greg Bear--I make a note to try him every year or so, but I haven't gotten there yet. I was interested to see only one LeGuin, since it seems that you like social SF. The Dispossessed is truly wonderful. Like you, I've read more classics than modern SF; like you, I'm reading more different things now, and SF is not as big a part of my overall reading. Unfortunately my overall amount of reading has gone down some too :(

I don't see any Gene Wolfe on your list. IMHO he has written much of the best literary SF of the last 30 years, especially the Book of the New Sun. If you haven't tried him, I recommend it!

I've read 31 of these. I probably only think about 7 of them stand a chance of being in the running.

I noticed too many series for my liking - and too much fantasy.

If anything I would say it is too biased towards recent works and not enough from the 60s and 70s.

As for Greg Bear's Queen Of Angels I would agree with reading_fox. His Slant which is set in the same world is much more engaging.

As for recommendations I will repeat my usual recommendation for Geoff Ryman's Air, or, have not have and if you look at the Science Fiction Fans group you will see a raft of good recommendations (both recent and slightly older books).

I share only five books that I've catalogued so far. The three Philip Pullman books, Aldous Huxley's, Brave New World, and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 a Space odyssey.

I've also have read George Orwell's 1984, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring (owned, but in a different edition), Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's Tale, Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Ursula Leguin's The Left Hand of Darkness, Isaac Asimov's I, Robot, Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. These last eight mentioned, I thought I still had, but maybe I haven't gotten to them in my cataloging effort.

Continuing, I tried Kushiel's Dart, but gave up on it.

I would also list in my own top 50, the Dune series of Frank Herbert, and C S Lewis' Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength.

Hey, Reading_fox, I think a lot of people who read Bear would find Queen of Angels wierd and different. That's why I really liked it. His others are more mainstream SF thriller (except for Slant, again kind of out there). I think that if I reread Stranger in a Strange Land now I wouldn't be as impressed as I was then (a time thing for me).

Curious, vpfluke, what stopped you from finishing Kushiel's Dart.

Yes, I know I missed some great ones. What's neat about that is I now have a chance to read them and adjust my favorite 50 list; it's fluid, after all! I'll defiinitely pick up the Dispossessed and some of Gene Wolfe. Thanks for the recommendations, Jim53!

I'll have to check out Geoff Ryman's Air too...with possible adjustments to my list :) Thanks for the recommendations, andyl!