Hellooo! You've been tagged ^_^ [Rules: In a text post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, including me, so I’ll see your list. Make sure you let your friends know you’ve tagged them! ]
So, this is a bit embarrassing as I don’t consider myself a very well read person, nor a very good reader. I just don’t read for pleasure very often, as I read math texts pretty much every day for school. And I warn, this list will be infected with some math texts that have influenced me over the years. In no particular order:
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - This book (and series) have kept me sane over the past few years. The world is so in depth, you can just lose yourself in it, and forget everything else. I’ve needed that. It’s also greatly increased my interest in doing work in Antarctica. Being set mostly on Mars with only a small number of people, I think the dynamics in Antarctica (at least at the south pole or something) would be similar, and I love them.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - This really sparked my interest in cyberpunk, and sci-fi as a whole. Again, it has a really rich world, something that I love in books and film. The mix of really out there stuff and things that actually exist today is fantastic.
The Harry Potter Series - Back in 3rd grade, we had weekly reading sheets, where we could mark down the books we read and get candy rewards. Before Harry Potter, candy was probably the reason I read. But Harry Potter really got me to start reading for myself, because I was interested.
Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces by Manfredo Do Carmo - This was the first specialized math book I’d used for a class. Before this, it was all 34th edition calculus texts. It was rather stunning. It required thought and taking time off from the book to work out problems. When I did problems in Do Carmo, I felt accomplished and full of wonder. Differential Geometry is my favourite subject in math, and if I continue my education, it’s the field I’ll be specializing in. I have this fantastic book to thank for that.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke - Another sci-fi book! For me, this book had some really deep concepts and things to think about. It was one of the first times I’d thought deeply about a book.
So, uh… there’s five. I wish I had more. You’ll notice a lot of firsts on the list. I think it’s really indicative of my huge lack of reading. Hopefully I can fix that soon!