Polyp's 1010 challenge

African Literature

Read:
1) No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe

So far my possibles are:

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer
Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila

Most of the authors on my shelves are British/US and I want to branch out a bit more. I chose Africa to give me a wide enough choice, and because I love Things Fall Apart and have been meaning to finish off the trilogy.

Dystopian/Apocalyptic Fiction

Read:
1) Children of Men by P D James (read Jan)
2) A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
3) V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
4) Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
5) The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya
6) In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster

So far my other possibles are:

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Erewhon by Samuel Butler
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

I do love books like Handmaid's Tale, Brave New World, We, 1984 and anything by Wyndham and admit I'm obsessed with these kinds of book and very much looking forward to the film of The Road.

Science Fiction

1) The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (read Jan)

So far my possibles are:

Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Starship Troopers by Heinlein
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke

These are books I've been promising people I'd read for years. I do like the Robots series of Asimov books, but never tried any Arthur C Clarke. My favourite sci fi books are things like The Left Hand of Darkness or Philip K Dick's short stories.

Postmodernism

Read:
1) White Noise by Don DeLillo
2) Hospital by Toby Litt

So far my possibles are:

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Only Revolutions by Mark Z Danielewski

I'm interested in the last one because I loved House of Leaves, but I've heard mixed reviews about Revolutions, be interested to hear from anyone who has read it.

Nobel Prize Winners

1. Beloved by Toni Morrison (read Jan)

So far my possibles are:

The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing

This category will probably overlap a bit with others so I might change this one.

A classic dystopian that I only recently read, and loved, was A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Poetry

1) Four Quartets by TS Eliot
2) Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen

I haven't given much thought to other possibles and don't know much about poetry. Although I do like some older poets like John Donne most of the poets I really enjoy are more contemporary, like Pablo Neruda and Simon Armitage so I'd like to read a mix.

Science

Read:
1) Chaos by Gleick

I'm a biologist and read quite a bit of popular science, but I'd like to branch out from Richard Dawkins and Stephen J Gould into the other sciences. I've heard that Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan and Six Easy Pieces by Richard P Feynman are good so I was thinking of trying those.

Thanks kristenn, just looked at the link and its definately going on my list!

Polar Exploration

Read:
1) Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
2) Explorers of the New Century by Magnus Mills

I really don't know where to start with this. I'm fascinated by the Arctic, should be going there this summerfor research, but I thought counting both poles would give me a better shot at getting the full 10. I may decide to cheat and expand it to include fiction set near the poles so I can read things like Northern Lights by Philip Pullman to complete the challenge...

Hey Polyp and welcome!

Those are great categories, and lots of interesting titles too!

For dystopias, a few of the ones I've really enjoyed in the last few years are The slynx by Tatiana Tolstaya, In the country of last things by Paul Auster, A scanner darkly by Philip K. Dick and CivilWarLand in bad decline by George Saunders.

For your postmodernism category, I heartily recommend Hospital by Toby Litt.

As far as I recall, there was a great chapter on polar expeditions in Anne Fadiman's Ex libris, that might help you find works on the subject. If you decide to include fiction, Explorers of the new century by Magnus Mills is an eerily funny take on the theme.

Hi Polyp,

We have several categories in common, and post-apocalyptic literature and Antarctica in general are two favorite areas of mine. Canticle is a wonderful book, one which I've read several times. Other recommendations:

Genesis by Bernard Beckett - 4 stars. There is no title touchstone (the 100 possibilities which come up don't include it), so use the author touchstone. In a not-too-distant dystopic future, a student takes an oral examination in hopes of joining the elite Academy which runs her society. Her area of expertise is the study of a magnetic historical personage named Adam, whose actions changed the development of the society in ways which are revealed only in the last few pages. Thought-provoking (and that's an inside joke which only a reader of the book will get) and disturbing post-apocalyptic fiction at its most memorable.

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier. Post-apocalypse AND Antarctica! 4½ stars
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Bleak but worthwhile, and won the Pulitzer. 4 stars
On the Beach by Nevil Shute. One of the classics. A bit dated in language, but enjoyable even if you've seen the film. 4 stars

And several John Wyndham novels:
The Chrysalids 4 stars
The Day of the Triffids 4 stars. There's also a sequel (written by another author) which I'm currently reading, and it's pretty good: Night of the Triffids by Simon Clark
The Kraken Wakes 3 stars

For Antarctica I'd suggest:

The Home of the Blizzard by Sir Douglas Mawson. Mawson survived on the ice alone for weeks after his companions died. He wrote his account in 1914 and it's available in complete form at www.Gutenberg.org, but also in a condensed version published by him many years later.

Revise the World by Brenda Clough is a creative SF novel which imagines a future for one of the doomed members of the Scott expedition. Follow the touchstone for my review. 4½ stars. (If you can't find this in print, it is available for the Kindle and can be read on your computer if you don't have a Kindle.)

I read some science books for the last couple of years. I read Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman - fun, Chaos and Brief History of Time - good, but dense, The Gecko's Foot and Catching Fire - How Cooking made Us Human - much more accessible, and a few others. This year I want to read A Life Decoded.

For science fiction I will go out on a limb and recommend Michael Marshalls Smith early books (especially Only Forward). If you like a bit of cyberpunk or detective fiction Jon Courtney Grimwood good and Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff is great over the top fun. You could also try more serious fare such as Kim Stanley Robinson

As a benchmark I find Arthur C Clarke stuff a bit too dated!

oh I second On The Beach, dated but well worth the read (as is V for Vendetta).

Right I am off to track down The Hospital. sigh.

@14: GingerbreadMan

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions. I really enjoyed Scanner Darkly too, I'll definately check out your other recommendations and see which I can find. Apart from Paul Auster I haven't heard of the other authors, and I am really keen to expand my reading.

That's a great tip about the chapter, I am a little lost on where to start for the polar category. I probably will include fiction to expand it and make it a bit easier to finish, especially when given interesting suggestions like yours on possible ones I could include :)

@15: auntmarge64

I think I'm going to be checking on your challenge thread so can I nick suggestions, we do seem to have similar taste. Like you I am a fan of most of John Wyndham's books, I didn't know someone had written a sequel to the Triffids though - you'll have to let me know what you think when you've finished it. The Road is a great book, and I did enjoy On the Beach, although like you I found the language a bit dated and some of the characters a bit 2D.

Thanks for the suggestions for my polar category, and for suggesting a book that combines post-apocalypse and Antarctica you are now officially my best friend!

@16: cmbohn

Thanks for the suggestions. I've heard Feynman is more accessible so I think one of his books is definately on the agenda, might have to work up to Stephen Hawking! The Gecko's Foot sounds really interesting, I've read bits and pieces about technology with biological inspiration and I'd love to learn more.

@17: clfisha

Thanks, I know nothing about cyberpunk but the couple I have read I've really enjoyed, so its definately worth exploring. I like the idea of a mix of serious with over the top too.

Arthur C Clarke is something I've promised to read for ages and always found something I'd rather read. I would like to have a go but I'm not too convinced I'm going to enjoy it, so I might line up Bad Monkeys as a reward/relief afterwards.

This site is dangerous, I think my other half sees it a bit like enabling my addiction.... Good luck finding the Hospital! :)

>19 Polyp:

I finished Night of the Triffids and enjoyed it (follow touchstone for my review). 4 stars.

My library is very good at getting ILLs for me, and that's where I found "Night" and many of Wyndham's own books. I wish someone would publish his collected works.

Wow. There's some great book suggestions here. I'll be following along.

I've been away without the internet, I don't have time to write some proper posts about what I thought about the ones I've read so far but wanted to say a massive thank you to the people who have suggested titles for me. Of the ones I've read, some I liked more or less than others but they were all interesting and worth reading at least once.

20 and counting... I think that makes me slightly behind, but with the help of some long journeys coming up I should gain some ground...

Thank you again and good luck! :)