Top Ten Tuesday: Ten ALL TIME Favorite Sci-Fi Books

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Ten ALL TIME Favorite Sci-Fi Books

Ricki

I am not a crazy avid sci fi reader. I read maybe 15 science fiction books per year because there are other genres I simply enjoy more. That said, these books are among my favorites of all time (of any genre!).

1. 1984 by George Orwell

1984

I absolutely loved teaching this book. I requested that my department order it because I knew it would be fantastic for discussions. To this day (four years after I finished teaching high school), students still email me about it!

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

the hunger games

I know. It’s a predictable book on the list, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include it. This series has led to a lot of critical discourse and conversations, and I am grateful that it exists.

3. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

18373

I read this book in eighth grade, and I still think about it often. The writing is accessible to people of all levels, and it really makes me think about life and humanity.

4. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
unwind

This is yet another book that makes readers truly contemplate humanity. I think it is a particularly great book to examine the way some people in society perceive certain populations to be inferior.

5. Ashfall by Mike Mullin

ashfall

This isn’t my favorite cover, but the book is phenomenal. I loved how it taught me about supervolcanoes–something I knew nothing about! I highly recommend this book if you missed it.

Kellee

I love sci-fi! It may be my favorite genre. Mostly because there are so many different types of sci-fi, so it is such a variety. There is dystopian, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, near future sci fi, James Bond-esque sci fi, etc.

1. The Giver (and its sequels) by Lois Lowry

giver quartet

My favorite BOOK of all time, much less of the sci-fi genre. I recently wrote my reading autobiography to share with my students as they wrote theirs, and this is what I wrote about The Giver:  “It was during middle school that I also was exposed to the book that is still my favorite book. The Giver by Lois Lowry takes the reader into a future that was furthest from what I ever wanted to experience: no colors, no books, no music, no choice, no love, no feelings, nothing. This book was an ah-ha moment for me. It made me realize that the life that I had the honor of living was far superior to other options that are out there. It made me appreciate art and music and books and love even more than I had before.”

2. Life As We Knew It (and its sequels) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

life-as-we-knew-it

This is the first apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic book that scared me when I read it. The premise is something that seems so realistic and could happen, and the follow up is just terrifying!

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth

divergent trilogy

Ricki shared The Hunger Games, and I just had to share Divergent. When I read The Hunger Games I was blown away by the violent dystopian society, but the Divergent series really took it to the next level for me. I think it might have been the realism of it taking place in Chicago? Or that I understand Tris more than Katniss? But whatever it was, I really connected to The Divergent series.

4. Heir Apparent by Vivan Vande Velde

heir apparent

I included this on the list vs. some other favorites because it is a book that I don’t often hear about, and I think it is such a cool premise and all of my students that read it are just enthralled in it.

5. The Knife of Never Letting Go (and its sequels) by Patrick Ness

chaos walking series

The Chaos Walking series is just brilliant. Serious. Brilliant. Read it if you haven’t.

Which science fiction books are your favorite?

RickiSig and Signature

9 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Ten ALL TIME Favorite Sci-Fi Books”

  1. Ohh this list is BRILLIANT!! I love The Knife of Never Letting Go (although totally still trying to recover from that TRAUMA) and The Hunger Games is beyond perfection and honestly can be blamed for getting me sucked into YA. <3 Bless it. Plus endlessly flails for Unwind which terrified me so bad and The Giver which is such a beautifully written series I CAN ONLY FLAIL OVER IT. Here’s my TTT!

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  2. These picks are great! I loved THG and Unwind, and I read two of the Divergent series, I just haven’t finished it off yet! 1984 is on my list of books I need to read soon as I never have xD My TTT

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  3. GREAT lists!!! I really enjoy sci fi, though I haven’t read much of it lately. You both hit on some of my favorites, too.

    Ricki, I’m SO glad you mentioned the thoughtfulness & discussion potential in The Hunger Games – that’s what I liked most about the series – how you could see elements of our own society in this crazy dystopian world. We were Collins fans long before Hunger Games came our – you must read her middle-grade series, Gregor the Overlander – soooo good!

    I never thought of Flowers for Algernon as sci fi, but you’re right – it is! Another of my all-time faves. Makes me sob every time!

    And I love everything by Neal Schusterman, but the Unwind series is the absolute best! Another all-time favorite for me & similar to Hunger Games in its thoughtfulness and eerie elements of our own society.

    Kellee, can you believe I’ve still only read the first book in The Giver quartet? I need to rectify that.

    And totally with you on the Chaos Walking trilogy – blew me away! My son and husband both loved it, too 🙂

    And you had some titles I haven’t read yet – I better get busy!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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