I came across this list on Pharyngula and had to add my 2 cents.  It’s nice to know that there are other people out there just as nerdy (and more so) in their reading tastes as I am.   Below the fold is a list of the 50 most significant SF & Fantasy books of the past 50 years.  I’ve bolded the ones that I’ve read.  I’ve also added comments where appropriate.

The Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years, 1953-2002

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien    Read the books, Saw the movies, pretty much everything short of learning Elvish.
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert     Read the whole Dune series, all six books, repeatedly.  I refuse to speak of his son’s efforts with the Dune Universe.
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein  “A growing closer” has become a permanent addition to the vocabulary of my wife and I.
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling  Book 7 and Movie 5 in 4 months!
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice     I hit the bi-sexual vampire saturation point a few books back, but that in no way takes away from Anne Rice’s first.
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut     Does reading the Sirens of Titan count?
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein     The Movie sucked
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks     Read the first chapter of one of the sequels and hated it.  Never picked up the series again.
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

I’m surprised to find that I’ve only covered 20% of the list so far.  I guess this will give me something to do once I finally move.

Via Pharyngula