Thursday, February 17, 2011

Follow Friday: Sixth Time Is the Charm


It's Friday again, which means it's time for Follow Friday. And this week, that's me! So to anyone who hops on by and follows my blog, welcome! I'd like to extend a great big thank you to the Follow Friday host Parajunkee, and if you haven't joined up, go on over to her blog and do so! It is a great way to find new and interesting blogs to follow.

And to answer the question of the week: If you are a fan of Science Fiction what is your favorite book? If you haven't read Science Fiction before . . . any inkling to? Anything catch your eye?

Do you have an hour or two? As one might guess, listing all of my favorite science-fiction books would take a while. Particular favorites (in no particular order) include Dune, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Nova (read review), Dhalgren (read review), Lucifer's Hammer, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Mote in God's Eye, Ringworld, Startide Rising, The Uplift War, the Foundation trilogy (read reviews), Caves of Steel (read review), The Naked Sun (read review), The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Lathe of Heaven, Beggars in Spain, Dragon's Egg, The Ophiuchi Hotline, Stand on Zanzibar, and on and on and on. If you asked me too, I could come up with a pretty substantial list of nothing but books written by just one author, say Andre Norton: Judgment on Janus, Moon of 3 Rings, Victory on Janus, The Zero Stone, Uncharted Stars, Exiles of the Stars, and well, you get the idea. Obviously, I have a lot to write about.

If you are hopping over and you didn't read about my blog on Parajunkee's site, you can call me Aaron or you can call me Book Addict. Either one works just as well. Book Addict is probably the best description for me though. The primary thing that someone should know about me is that I love books in general, but I really love science fiction and fantasy. I have been inhaling massive amounts of both for decades now. I remember reading The Hobbit during an overnight reading binge when I was ten. I read The Lord of the Rings over the next three days. I cut my reading teeth on Heinlein, and Asimov, and Cherryh, and Norton, and, well pretty much any other author whose books appeared in the science fiction or fantasy section of the library. My family moved around a lot when I was young (my father was in the foreign service), and the first thing I would do when I got to a new school was check out the library and see if they had any Andre Norton books I hadn't read yet. I am constantly grabbing science fiction books that look interesting only to figure out once I begin them that I already read them when I was fourteen. My blog is heavily slanted towards science fiction and fantasy, but basically I write about just about anything I read as well as some of the things I watch.

I started my blog in 2008. Well, not really. I actually did start it then, but for the first two years I didn't do much of anything with it, and posts were few and far between. If you have no direction for your blog, it is easy to just let it slide. It wasn't until September 2010 that I decided to get serious about it. I mostly blog about science fiction and fantasy, and often times I focus on older science fiction and fantasy. The impetus behind seriously getting into book blogging was an article I read in which a journalist was going to read and review all the Hugo Award winning novels starting with The Demolished Man (read review). But there was never any follow up to the initial review. It seems that his enthusiasm waned upon getting to the second Hugo Award winning novel (which is They'd Rather Be Right (read review), and since that book just isn't very good, I can see why). So I looked around and didn't find anyone had really done that, at least so far as I was able to tell. And that idea gave birth to what I call my Hugo project to actually read and review all of the Hugo award winning novels, and that my blog direction and purpose. And now I'm addicted to reviewing projects: the Hugo winners, the International Fantasy winners, Farscape (read reviews), and I keep coming up with more ideas. I'm getting ready to start going through Babylon 5 (read reviews), reflecting my love of the show and allowing me to opine upon the vast store of books and printed material that has been released that are related to it, and draw connections between the show and the older science fiction books that clearly seem to have inspired it. In short, I blog about the books that I love, and I hope anyone who stops by is able to get some enjoyment out of it too.



To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
  1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host (Parajunkee) and any one else you want to follow on the list.
  2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - Dreaming About Other Worlds (Hey! That's me!)
  3. Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing.
  4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments.
  5. Follow, follow, follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "Hi".
  6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the love . . . and the followers.
  7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
  8. If you're new to the Follow Friday Hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!
Go to previous Follow Friday: A Fifth of Following
Go to subsequent Follow Friday: Sevens

Follow Friday     Home

86 comments:

  1. Just wanted to 'hop' by and say hello. Also, you mentioned a LOT of Sci-fi, but do you read fantasy? One of my ALL time favorite authors was David Eddings. Just wondered if you'd read him.

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  2. Oh yes, I read the entire Belgariad, and I have two other series by him that I'll get around to reading one of these days. My Mount To-Be-Read is quite imposing.

    I love fantasy - Andre Norton wrote a bunch of fantasy. If you ever get the chance to read her Witch World books you should try them out. But I spent much of my life inside books by Tolkien, Moorcock, Lieber, McKillip, Donaldson and so many other fantasy authors.

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  3. I'm your newest follower via FF and am a huge sci-fi fan. I especially love Farscape and Firefly and look forward to more of your posts. Feel free to visit me whenever you get a chance.

    http://wowfromthescarfprincess.blogspot.com/2011/02/follow-friday_17.html

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  4. Hello, I'm here because of Follow Friday. Congrats on being featured. I like science fiction too, most especially Asimov!

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  5. I can't read nothing from J.R.R Tolkien. His books make me sleepy D:
    But, I'm goona to read some of your reviews, and maybe I can find books that I can like :D

    -petit
    My Follow Friday

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  6. @joder: I'll be writing more about Farscape very soon, I promise! And I'll probably write about Firefly as a swing topic in between seasons of either Farscape or Babylon 5. (Not that I like Firefly any less, but it was just so mistreated and its life cruelly cut short).

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  7. @Betty: I love Asimov too. Over the next couple of months there's likely to be a lot more Asimov on the blog, both because of my Hugo project, and because I have a bunch of his books that were never honored with Hugos (like the Foundation and R. Daneel Olivaw books) that I want to write about.

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  8. Hi, I'm a new follower found thru FF. I've heard about Ender's Game from someone else too and I'm gonna have to read it. Thanks,
    Heatheraine
    http://heatheraine.blogspot.com

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  9. @-petit: I hear that a lot, and I understand. Tolkien can be a bit long and slow. The thing I find odd is that the modern trend in fantasy is to write doorstops that dwarf anything Tolkien ever wrote! I'm sure to be writing about a lot of fantasy in the future (among other things, eventually I'm going to tackle the World Fantasy Award winners), so you may be able to find something that appeals to you.

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  10. Hi Aaron, Congrats on being the featured follower. I'm a new follower!
    I've never been a sci fi fan, but I'd love to remedy that. I enjoyed the Enders books but haven't read much else. Where should I start?
    My Hop

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  11. @Heatheraine: Ender's Game is definitely on my list to review, as is it's sequel Speaker for the Dead, both of which won Hugo awards. I've got a lot of other Card on tap too!

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  12. @Alison: Thank you very much! And wow, what an open ended question! I guess the place to start figuring that iout would be to ask what you like to read now, and what you liked about the Ender books. Because I can probably pick some books that you'd like based on that, but otherwise you'd be stuck with what I love the most (which might not be what you'd love the most).

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  13. Aaron, congrats on your FF feature!
    Old follower hopping by! Have a great weekend!
    Kristin@ My Bookish Ways

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  14. Hi Aaron! Congrats on being featured in Parajunkees FF and that's fabulous that you are working through the Hugo awards..

    I used to be a huge scifi/fantasy reader of McCaffery and the Mode series of Piers Anthony. But time has changed my tastes in books but I still enjoy the science fiction & fantasy just differently now. =)

    I'm looking forward to reading your reviews on your reading selections!

    *waves* Have a great weekend!

    Redd

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  15. hey congrats on the feature!

    i love the hobbit and LOTR. they're my favorites!

    happy friday
    iamjenai
    http://bookinglyyours.blogspot.com/

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  16. @Redd: Thanks! The Hugos are shaping up to be a lot of fun. If I could only push the other stuff that I am more or less obligated to read in between off a little more!

    And I'm probably going to be cranking through the Nebulas when I get to them too, since there is so much crossover between the two awards. It will be very interesting to look at the two awards when they converge and when they diverge, and try to figure out why.

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  17. Hi! Congrats being the featured blogger this day! I'm your newest follower! Happy reading!^^

    Here's my FF and Blog Hop

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  18. @Marrion: Hi! Glad to have you here!

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  19. I love the focus of your blog. I'm hoping to discover more about the genre thanks to your reviews! I'm an old follower. Congratulations on the feature this week!!!

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  20. I haven't read too many if any Sci Fi but have a few fantasy but its been awhile.

    Hopping on thru to wish you a great weekend.


    My FF and Blog Hops

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  21. @Logan: Thank you. I hope you enjoy what I write and they prove helpful to you.

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  22. Just stopping by from the follow. Have a good weekend!

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  23. @BLHmistress: Thank you for stopping by! I only hope that maybe I can give you some good ideas for books to read in the genres.

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  24. Congrats on the spotlight, Book Addict! It's very nice to meet you. Your blog is awesome!

    I am from the hop stopping in to say hi and to follow you.
    You can find me here
    http://bookinitalong.blogspot.com/
    Talina

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  25. Hi there! New follower here over from Parajunkee's Friday Follow, and may I say congrats on your feature :-) You've certainly mentioned quite a few books! I'm a fan of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and of course, "Blade Runner," but I'm also a huge fan of "Firefly" and "Torchwood." I'm more of a horror and fantasy reader, so please feel free to drop by chez moi :-)

    Have a great weekend!
    Darkeva

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  26. hoppyinmg by to say hello Im a new follower

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  27. @Talina: Thank you! Nice to meet you too! I hope the blog continues to be enjoyable for you!

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  28. @FICTION STATE OF MIND: Hello to you too!

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  29. @Darkeva: Oh if only you knew how long I could have gone on! Like I said, for many science fiction or fantasy authors, I could probably come up with a respectable list with just that author's books!

    I love Firefly, and Philip K. Dick is great! Before too long I'll be posting reviews for stuff like The Man in the High Castle and Valis, so I'm sure you'll find something to like here.

    I already follow your blog too! It is great and I check it a couple times a week.

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  30. @iamjenai: Thank you!

    I love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings too. I even liked The Silmarillion, which probably proves that I am a little insane.

    As a matter of fact, one of the reasons that I wanted to work through the International Fantasy Award is that The Lord of the Rings won it in 1956, the last year the award was handed out.

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  31. I love sci-fi book. But I dont have a lot of book about it. The local publisher is not really into that kind of genre

    I have never read and hear the book that you put in your list.
    but I am going to check it.

    I am your newest follower.

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  32. Hi
    Just following through - congrats on being featured! I don't read very much science fiction but I'm a sucker for Star Trek spin-offs

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
    www.bookdout.wordpress.com

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  33. @Aleetha: All of the books I listed brought me hours of enjoyment, and many of them I have gone back to reread more than once. I hope you are able to find them. I'll be posting lots of science fiction related reviews in the future too, so keep an eye out for them and maybe you'll find more stuff you'd like to read.

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  34. @bookdout: Thanks for coming by! I must admit, one of the few areas of science fiction that I don't read much is licensed fiction. Well, except for Babylon 5 related stuff. I don't know why I made a mental exception for those but avoid the Star Trek and Star Wars spin offs (for example), but I do.

    Maybe you'll drop by sometimes and see something that will catch your eye one of these days.

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  35. hey, stopping by from parajunkee's ff, Great blog am a new follower!!

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  36. New to Follow Friday and stopping by to say, hey! Favorite sci-fi definitely ENDER'S GAME but also love books by Lois McMaster Bujold.

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  37. New follower! just wanted to hop on by and say hi :)

    Diana
    thelovelygetaway.blogspot.com

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  38. I've never heard of most of those books. I'll have to look them up sometime. New follower!

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  39. Hey Aaron, congrats on being the feature (:

    Just dropping by to say hi. I haven't read as much sf as I would want to, no title comes to mind at the moment, but I really like the genre.

    Hope you have a great weekend!
    Celine
    Nyx Book Reviews

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  40. Congrats with the feature. I haven't read a lot of sci-fi books, but I should really read more out of my comfort zone.:)

    Happy Friday!

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  41. Great feature - I'm linked up and following your fab blog! I'd like to extend an invitation to (shameless plug) my Weekend Creation Blog Hop which is on right now for the whole weekend - that is if you'd like to link up your creations(writing/reviews etc)/blog or meet other creative bloggers? It's new and needs lovin.

    Over @ wordsinsync.blogspot.com Shah ;D X

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  42. Heey
    Congrats on being Feature!!!
    Hope you have a great weekend and I'm a new follower!! Does LOTR count as SciFi?? Hop over if you have the time:
    http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/follow-friday-and-book-blogger-hop_18.html
    Juli

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  43. Hai! Congrats on being the feature this week! I look forward to your reviews, and also a new follower here.

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  44. New Follower from Friday Follow.

    I like your style! Reading all the Hugos is an admirable goal... at some point I may have to try it.

    I'm a Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Comics reviewer myself.

    The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

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  45. Enjoyed reading your bio! Stopping by from the hop and now following.

    I just read a graphic novel called Zita the Spacegirl. Does that count as science fiction? I really liked it. :)

    Aimee
    http://gettingyourreadonaimeebrown.blogspot.com/

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  46. Found you through Steph at Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust. You love every book I love. I am a huge scifi/fantasy fan. Have been since I was a little kid reading Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet.
    You're going on my scifi/fantasy blog list.

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  47. Your Tolkien reading is impressive. At TEN? Wow. I still haven't made it through The Hobbit. :) I'm glad to meet and follow you.

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  48. Hey Book Addict,
    Just stopping by on the follow. Love the fact that you too like Robert A. Heinlein. I'm ur newest follower.
    See ya,
    Dana
    Readaholics Anonymous

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  49. Hi, I found your blog via Follow Friday! I haven't read many Sci-Fi books but I'm excited to see what you read and be a more diverse reader.

    tantalizingillusions.blogspot.com

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  50. Congrats on being the feature this week!! Thanks for the Science Fiction suggestions! We are your newest followers and if you have a moment, give us a visit @
    http://pg59bookclub.blogspot.com
    Thanks!
    Tasha

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  51. Hi! I'm a new follower. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Fantasy books. I'm looking forward to reading more of your reviews.
    Hope you have a great weekend :)
    Caroline @ Bon Bons and Reveries

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  52. Welcome to triple digits... I am your 100th follower!! WIT WOO

    Come stop by Crazy Book Slut maybe you will want to follow back?!??!

    Have a great day!

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  53. Hey, I just wanted to stop by and say "HI" and that we are new followers. I'm slowly becoming immersed in the world of science fiction and steampunk so I'm super happy to find your blog.

    If you have a moment, check out our blog at http://IAdoreBooksandFilm.blogspot.com
    Have a great weekend!
    Suz

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  54. Hi,

    I'm your newest follower! I really enjoy reading fantasy and I like science fiction as well. I've read Ender's Game several years ago and it is still one of my favorites. Stranger in a Strange Land is on my TBR list for this year, too.

    Good job on your blog. If you get the chance, come visit mine. Here's my Follow Friday post: http://bookendcrossing.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-18th-follow-friday.html

    Have a great weekend!

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  55. Wow that's quite a list you have got there! I read dune when I was much younger and I loved it, but I tend to lean towards fantasy rather than Sci-Fi! Any I'm now following you! Have a great weekend!

    Sonette @ Bookworm Blog

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  56. Congratulations on being featured this week! Dune is my absolute favorite science fiction book! I love it. It was the first book I ever read in that genre. I'm a new follower.

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  57. New follower here via the Friday hop. I'm also a new contemporary romance writer and reader of everything I can get my hands on. Hope you stop by my blog and check it out.

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  58. @Literary Cravings: Thank you so much!

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  59. @Stasia: Thanks for coming by! I haven't read much Bujold (Falling Free and a couple of her short stories), but she's an author I've always wanted to read more of. And look at that! She's won a couple Hugs and Nebulas, so I will definitely be doing so!

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  60. @The Lovely Getaway: Nice to meet you! Thank you for coming over and following!

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  61. @Jenni Elyse: Dune is a great book. Even now, fifty years after it was published, it is still incredible. When I was a teenager, I wanted nothing more than to be a Fremen.

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  62. @Sonette: I love fantasy too! As a matter of fact, eventually I plan on working my way through all the World Fantasy Award winners, and there should probably be plenty of stuff that appeals to you in that selection.

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  63. @AlleluiaLu: Ender's Game is a really good book. Oddly, I read Speaker for the Dead before I read Ender's Game, so I knew the "twist" before I read the latter, but the book is strong enough that it was still great to read.

    I'll be writing up Stranger in a Strange Land before too long (winner of the 1962 Hugo for Best Novel), so stay tuned!

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  64. @Noe and Suz: Always good to hear someone who is getting into the science fiction world. I hope you find lots of good reading material as a result of my writing. I also like steampunk - have you ever tried Phil Foglio's Girl Genius graphic novels?

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  65. @Tena: Woo Hoo! I never thought I would get to 100! Thank you so much, and thank you all all my other new followers!

    It's overwhelming, but I want everyone who came by and commented to know that I'll be sure to visit each and every one of your blogs today!

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  66. @Caroline: So good to see a big fantasy fan!

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  67. @pg.59 Book Club: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the science fiction suggestions, and hope you come back as I work through more.

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  68. @P.E.: Welcome aboard! Always good to see someone new try out the genre!

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  69. @Dana Alma: I love Heinlein - I may own every book he has ever written, even a travelogue he originally wrote in 1953 called Tramp Royale that was published after his death.

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  70. @Delphyne: I can always keep track of roughly when I read books in my youth depending on where I was living at the time. I remember that when I read The Hobbit we were living in Tanzania, and it was summer break, so that means it had to have been between my 4th and 5th grade years in school. So, ten.

    Those times I burned through them, eager to see what happened next. But whenever I read Tolkien now, I take my time and let the language kind of wash over me. I even read the poems and songs.

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  71. Julia Rachel Barrett: Was Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet the one where two boys build a spaceship, go to the moon, and save the inhabitants by giving them chickens? I remember reading a book that went like that that had mushrooms in the title.

    Anyway, glad to meet another science fiction fan! Hope you enjoy the blog!

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  72. @Aimee: I've never read Zita the Spacegirl, but it sounds like it would! Hope you find lots of good stuff to read here!

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  73. @Lindsay: The Hugos today, the Nebulas tomorrow! And then the Campbell award! And . . .

    Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. Always good to see a fellow science fiction fan! Hope you enjoy my blog!

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  74. @Aislinn_C: Thank you for the follow!

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  75. @Universe in Words: I'd call The Lord of the Rings fantasy, but not science fiction. But since I love both genres, it doesn't really matter. Either way, welcome!

    That gives me an idea, maybe one of these days I should write up a post describing what I think is the difference between the two.

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  76. @shah wharton: Thank you for the compliment! I will certainly check your site out!

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  77. @Nina: Thanks for following! I hope my blog will help you find some science fiction that will spark your interest.

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  78. @Celine: When I first started reading science fiction, I didn't keep track of titles, which is why I often find myself picking up a book I don't recognize and only after I start reading it figure out that I read it before. I've gotten better at that, but it makes for some funny moments.

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  79. @Chelsey: If I haven't reviewed them already, I will be soon, so keep watching and you should be able to get some idea whether you think you'd like them or not.

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  80. @E Kelly: Thanks for following! I certainly will go over and check your blog out!

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  81. First time Follow Friday blog hopper. Just stopping by...


    I should really make an effort to read more sci-fi.

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  82. Congratulations! I hope someday to be the Follow Friday featured blog. And what a perfect question for you since it seems that Science Fiction is your thing. I must admit I don't read much in this genre but I have been surprised a few times by books that really caught my imagination.

    -Anne

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  83. @flashlight reader: I'm always happy when someone gets into the genre! I hope that I am able to steer you to some books that you will enjoy!

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  84. @Anne Bennett: You got it right - science fiction is very much my thing. I hope that as I write about them you will discover books that fire your imagination.

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