I explicitly include dystopias (and utopias) and alternate histories in sci fi, but I accept that not everyone would.

Space Travel is definitely my weakes category. I've only read Downbelow Station, and I only read that fairly recently. I find Doc Smith unreadable. I could have sworn I'd read The Sparrow but that plot summary is not familiar to me at all. I've only read a little Banks, and it didn't make me want to read more of his stuff, and it wasn't the book on the list. I don't think. I don't remember that well.

My other weakness is, surprisingly, Aliens. i love a good alien story, but I've only read one of those the short story. I've known for ages that I need to read Octavia Butler and the other novel sounds good, too. Which is why I like these lists, they give me things to look for (or remind me that I meant to look for something).

I explicitly include dystopias (and utopias) and alternate histories in sci fi, but I accept that not everyone would.

Me too. I could see them as a sub-genre but not a separate genre.

I've read all but 4 1/2, the half being my complete inability to finish Dhalgren. I wouldn't visit Dhalgren on a beginner. I wouldn't include Orlando, because I don't consider it sf. I'd include Clifford Simak's City under robots and any number of other books for aliens, including Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity, Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy and LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness rather than The Dispossessed in dystopias. I don't think you can really have a complete list without another category: post-apocalyptic. I can't buy into a list that doesn't manage to include Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut or A Canticle for Leibowitz .

Buffistas, I have discovered your newest desire: Postertext.

of course I desperately covet Moby Dick. Now I realize a lot of the credit for my finally reading that book goes to you, P-C for introducing me to "Ahab" by MC Lars.

Everything Ginger said, except I don't think I even made it halfway through Dhalgren.

Now I realize a lot of the credit for my finally reading that book goes to you, P-C for introducing me to "Ahab" by MC Lars.

Ha, awesome! Don't you appreciate the song even more now?

The first one to spot him gets this gold dubloon
Now excuse me while I go be melancholy in my room

I hadn't looked at the list yet, but if it doesn't include Bradbury, it's not a complete list.

peg leg sperm whale jaw bone, what?!

I made it all the way through Dalghren. But only because it was the only book I took with me on a trip. Not going to go that long without reading something.

I just finished Mockingjay, and I am going back now to read all of the posts about it. I agree with what people were saying about how dark it was, but I mainly can't get over that Prim was killed.