These are books I read before I ever started writing reviews for my website. Maybe eventually I'll reread some of them and write proper reviews, but probably not all of them. But I still want to at least mention as many books that I've read as I can recall.
Another Day, Another Dungeon, by Greg Costikyan (pub. 1990)
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This is something I think I probably ordered from the Science Fiction Book Club, but I couldn't say for sure. (It's also possible it could be one of four books I got in a grab bag from SFBC; the two I remember for sure are "City" and "Moving Pictures," but there are several books I own that I think might have been in the grab bag. I think it's more likely that I specifically ordered this, though. Or, maybe I even got it somewhere other than SFBC.) Anyway, I don't remember if I read this in the 90s or the Aughts, but I would guess the latter. And I remember thinking it was good, so I've always meant to eventually acquire the sequel, and read that too. I'd probably reread this first, though.
Azazel, by Isaac Asimov (pub. 1988)
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Azazel is a tiny demon who appeared in numerous short stories originally published between 1980 and 1994, apparently (though Asimov died in 1992). I remember getting a collection of Azazel stories at some point, either in high school or sometime prior to that. I don't know that it was this collection; in fact I think it was probably a smaller one with only a fraction of the stories included in this one, though I could be wrong about that. Anyway, even this one doesn't have all the stories, because some weren't written until after the book was published. And I don't remember anything specific about any of the stories, but I might like to read them again someday (as well as any I've never read). I have no idea what became of the book I had, but it seems to be gone. Oh well.
Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming, by Roger Zelazny & Robert Sheckley (pub. 1991)
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I think I read this in 1999. I don't remember anything specific about it, but I'm sure I found it really funny. And it must have been one of the earliest things I was aware of that kind of took familiar fairy tales and modernized them, made them more twisted and ironic or whatever. Which is something I soon became much more familiar with, in things like The 10th Kingdom and Shrek, and, uh... any number of things. But then again, that concept was done earlier (and better) by Terry Pratchett, I suppose....
The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan (pub. 1990)
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This is the first book in Jordan's long-running "Wheel of Time" series, and the only one I've read. It must have been in 1998 or '99 that I read it (I think I borrowed it from the wife of a friend, when I was staying with them at that time). I don't remember a single detail of the story or even the general plot, but I know it took me a long time to get through it, and I'm pretty sure I didn't like it much at all. If I ever reread it, I probably still wouldn't remember much of anything about it (that is, I wouldn't expect it to seem familiar to me). I know the series is very popular, and I suppose it's possible that if I reread it, I'd like it better than I did the first time. But I doubt it. I do feel bad about not liking it, as it was a series I had thought for some time that I'd like to read. And I'm glad that it's been so successful, and that lots of people like it. So I hope no one holds my opinion against me.
The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien (pub. 1954-55)
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My copy of this was given to me by my friend Rob. Technically, this is one novel, though it's published in three volumes, each of which contains two books, so it's kind of actually six books. Each of which is fairly long. (Each volume is definitely really long.) Of course, I shouldn't really complain, because my own book is crazy-long, itself. Anyway, "The Lord of the Rings" is a sequel to the much shorter, much lighter book "The Hobbit," which I've never read, but certainly should. (I think I'd seen the animated Rankin/Bass movie when I was a kid, and before starting these books, I listened to an audiobook of The Hobbit.) Um... so, I remember reading at least the first volume of this in college (in the mid-90s), though I really can't remember if I finished all three volumes then, or not. All's I know is, it took me for-bloody-ever to get through them. I mean, I totally get why they're so beloved, but there were long stretches that I thought were kinda boring. And I probably couldn't keep all the characters and events straight in my mind (though that's at least partly a failing of my own mind, more than a failing of the books). Some years later, the movies came out, and they were certainly good (and long, though not nearly as long as the books). And... I guess I don't need to say any more unless and until I reread the books and write proper reviews. Which I kind of dread doing, but... I really should. And it would probably be fun. Mostly.
Moving Pictures, by Terry Pratchett (pub. 1990)
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This is the tenth book in Pratchett's "Discworld" series, but so far it's the only one I've read. I got it in a grab bag I ordered from Science Fiction Book Club, so I didn't know what I would be getting. I don't recall if I'd even heard of Pratchett or Discworld before getting the book, but this was easily my favorite of the four books I received. I totally loved it. Ever since then, I've very much wanted to read the whole Discworld series, but so far I just haven't gotten around to it (though I have seen a couple of miniseries based on other books in the series, Hogfather and The Colour of Magic). I basically consider Pratchett the Douglas Adams of fantasy, which probably I'm not alone in doing. Anyway, someday I'll definitely reread and review this, though I should probably wait until I've read the preceding books, in proper order.
On a Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony (pub. 1983)
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This is the first book in the "Incarnations of Immortality" series. I must have read it sometime in the late 90s or early 00s, so I was already familiar with Anthony's "Xanth" series (see bottom of this page). I don't remember anything specific about this book, but I think I probably liked it better than the Xanth books, and I always intended to read more of the Incarnations series, but so far I haven't. And it's not really important to me. But maybe someday I will, I dunno. (Of course, the basic concept of the books has surely been done by other authors, and probably done better.)
Xanth (series), by Piers Anthony (pub. 1977-whenever)
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I can't recall when I started reading this series, whether it was the late 80s or early 90s. So I'm not entirely sure whether I should include it on this page or my nostalgia page. But since it seems I didn't include it under nostalgia when I first put that page together, I might as well put it on this one. It probably was the 90s, anyway. Wikipedia lists 38 books in the series, at the time that I'm writing this entry, though it looks like at least two of them haven't been published yet. Probably there will be more after that, as well. I'm actually a bit surprised, I could have sworn there were already more books than that in the series. But I'm pretty sure the most recent book I've read is the ninth, Golem in the Gears (and I can't say for a certainty that I read all eight of the preceding books, but I probably did). I know I liked the original trilogy (A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, and Castle Roogna, which I have in an omnibus), and I thought the later books were at least okay. But the books tend to have more puns than I can really stand; they're funny for awhile, but eventually I feel like I've overdosed on them. And I also always felt like there's a bit too much description, at times, of the anatomy of female characters. (Nothing indecent, mind you, because these books are basically kid-friendly.) Actually, the stories are decent, but I can't help feeling that the books are sort of juvenile. I wouldn't exactly call them YA, but they do seem to me more like something that would be enjoyed by teens and pre-adolescents than by adults. Still, I'm the last person in the world who would ever say there's anything wrong with adults liking things (whether books, movies, TV, etc.) that are mainly made for kids. And maybe these books aren't intended to be for kids, anyway. I dunno. But I don't have any particular plans to ever read further in the series than I have already, and I wouldn't expect to reread the books I have read. Which means I'll probably never write any reviews. But to be clear... I do like the books.
Oh, also, I once wrote a song parody called Pieces of Xanth.