From now on I’m not going to read two books in a row from the same genre unless they are part of a series.  I just can’t keep the story lines and characters straight in my head.  I’m confusing sunflower plants from Larry Niven’s Ringworld with those thorny border bushes in John Lenahan’s Shadowmagic.  Okay, I suppose those are different genres.

At one time I had a strict policy of reading no more than one work of  fiction for every nonfiction book I read.  Somewhere along the lines I ditched that rule because there was so much sci-fi I wanted to read.  I may bring back a modified (and more fiction-friendly) version of that rule.

Quick update on what’s on my iPod:

I just finished The Zombie Chronicles: Escape by James Melzer.  Podiobooks classifies it as Horror/Dark Fantasy. Zombies aren’t typically my thing, but this was decent. It had some elements of Men in Black, 7th Son, Dollhouse, and maybe a little 28 Days Later.

I’m about halfway into Shadowmagic by John Lenahan (Fantasy).  This is one of those sleepers that caught me off-guard.  It’s really good!  I hope there will be more.  “A Lord of the Rings for the 21st century. Only a lot shorter. And funnier. And completely different.”

After that I will finish off the Ringworld books with Ringworld’s Children.  I might have the order screwed up.

Also, there’s a new show on the TWIT network I’m enjoying – This Week in Google.

I really should stop this habit of reading a particular genre until I’m completely burnt out on it. Marching straight through Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series burned me out on fantasy for quite a while (although I eventually returned to the genre, only to handle Harry Potter the same way.)

Recently I’ve been on a sci-fi (or, is it sy-fy now?) tear. A couple of recent selections I’ve already mentioned in this space include Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow and Beautiful Red by M. Darusha Wehm.  Earlier this year I very slowly plodded through The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

I’ve since moved on to the Ringworld series by Larry Niven.  So far I’ve knocked out Ringworld and The Ringworld Engineers. I’m about halfway through The Ringworld Throne, and Ringworld’s Children will be next.   If I’m not burnt out on Niven I’m going to sneak in Protector, too.

Later on this year I’ll return to Jerry Pournelle’s CoDominium universe for The Gripping Hand.

Podiobooks are free serialized audiobooks distributed as podcasts.  For more information on exactly what they are and how they work you should check out their FAQ.

I’m calling this “Part 1″ because I’m only listing Completed books, I haven’t listened to all of the Podiobooks, and because they add new content every day.  I’ve mentioned most of these before but I wanted to get them all together in one place.

Singularity by Bill DeSmedt – Science Fiction
One of my all-time favorite books, a fictional exploration of the Tunguska explosion of 1908.  Great physics, great story.  This book has it all, and it’s a excellent production.

Doctor Jack’s Soapbox Seminars by John C. Adler, Ph.D., as told to Bill DeSmedt – Non-Fiction
If you enjoy Singularity you should listen to this, too.  It will help you understand some of the physics of Singularity, and kill some time while you wait for Bill DeSmedt to finish Dualism.

7th Son: Book One – Descent by J.C. Hutchins – Science Fiction
7th Son: Book Two – Deceit by J.C. Hutchins – Science Fiction
7th Son: Book Three – Destruction by J. C. Hutchins – Science Fiction
This is one amazing trilogy. I’ve ranted before about how great it is, so I won’t go on and on again.  Just listen to it.  It moves at a frantic pace.

Infected by Scott Sigler – Horror/Dark Fantasy
Contagious by Scott Sigler – Horror/Dark Fantasy
This is a really cool story. I listen to or read everything by Scott Sigler, which is pretty amazing because horror is not my thing.  I can’t wait for Pandemic!

BloodCast, Season 1 by Scott Sigler – Horror/Dark Fantasy
BloodCast, Season 2 by Scott Sigler – Horror/Dark Fantasy
Two collections of short stories by Scott Sigler.  Be sure to check out “Chuckles Mulrooney, Attorney for the Damned.”

The Rookie by Scott Sigler – Science Fiction
I’m sorry to keep recommending books with forthcoming sequels, but after you listen to this story about football 700 years in the future you’re going to find yourself waiting for Sigler to release The Starter.

Earthcore by Scott Sigler – Science Fiction
Mark your calendar for February of 2012, when Mt. Fitzroy, the follow-up to Earthcore comes out.  Okay, sorry, that’s the last time I’ll do that in this post.

Kronos by Jeremy Robinson – Science Fiction
I thought I blogged about this but I can’t find an entry.  Any way, it’s a good story, even if a bit odd.

Number One with a Bullet by Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff – Fiction
A sort of modern-day Highlander story that I had a hard time taking seriously, but plenty of violence and a fairly interesting story kept me in it until the end.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - by Cory Doctorow – Science Fiction
If you like this (I did) you might want to check out Little Brother.  You can read it free in a bunch of different formats. The unabridged audio edition is $20.

Hunting Elf by Dave Donelson – Humor
I mentioned this one here recently.

Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena by Brian Dunning – Non-Fiction
Skeptoid podcaster Brian Dunning explores topics from Bigfoot to bible codes.

The Silk Code by Paul Levinson – Science Fiction
This is quite a ride. It treats DNA the way Singularity handled physics.  Several interesting stories weave together. I’d like to see more from Paul Levinson.

If you enjoy these books support the author and keep a good thing going by donating through the Podiobooks page. The author gets 75%.