"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

Edwin Voskamp on Reading Books

I taught myself to read when I was three years old. I practiced a lot and am a pretty good speed reader with highly retentive memory. I read three languages fluently, can puzzle out three more and can read newspapers in a few others. When I was nine years old I had to spend a year on bed. I read two books a day, that my relatives dragged in. Ever since, reading is one of life's finest pastimes. A good book ... On a cold winter night, in front of a roaring fire, with a glass of Bushmill's Single Malt, a Havanna cigar and a new, hard science fiction book, I can't think if anything more exciting, honestly, well maybe one other, but even at the speed I read, a good book lasts longer.

What do I read?

'Any horse in a storm,', as Launcelot remarked. I read anything. I like to clear my mind of the day's nonsense by reading a bit before retiring for the night. For that purpose I read anything. However, I prefer history, science fiction and fantasy. Or to be a bit more precies, I prefer (auto)biographies, hard science fiction and high fantasy.

World Science Fiction Society / Worldcon

I go every year. I went to Brighton in 1987, then The Hague in 1990 and have gone to every single one since, with Jan Willem, my oldest friend. Here is more information on WSFCons' Web Sites:

• 1995: Intersection , the 53rd World Science Fiction Convention, Glasgow, Scotland (Thu 8/24/1995 - Mon 8/28/1995
• 1996: L.A.con III , the 54th World Science Fiction Convention, Los Angelos, California, USA (Thu 8/29/1996 - Mon 9/2/1996)
• 1997: LoneStarCon 2 , the 55th World Science Fiction Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA (Thu 8/28/1997 - Mon 9/1/1997)
• 1998: BucConeer , the 56th World Science Fiction Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, (Wednesday 8/5/1998 - Sun 8/9/1998)
• 1999: Aussiecon Three , the 57th World Science Fiction Convention, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, (Thu 9/2/1999 - Mon 9/6/1999)
• 2000: Chicon 2000 , the 58th World Science Fiction Convention, Chicago, Illinois, USA, (Thu 8/31/2000 - Mon 9/4/1999)
• 2001: The Millennium Philcon , the 59th World Science Fiction Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, (Thu 8/30/2000 - Mon 9/3/1999)
• 2002: ConJosé , the 60th World Science Fiction Convention, San Jose, California, USA, (Thu 8/29/2001 - Mon 9/2/2001)
• 2003: TorCon 3 , the 61st World Science Fiction Convention, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, (Thu 8/28/2002 - Mon 9/1/2002)
• 2004: Noreascon 4 , the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention, San Jose, California, USA, (Thu 9/2/2003 - Mon 9/6/2003)

Index to Recommended Reading

Since I read a lot, and, even with Sturgeon's Law, have found a lot of good books to recommend, I divided my recommendations into two sections:

• Recommended Authors.
• Recommended Books.

All these pages are still under construction. Their contents are extracts from my books data base and therefore in less than pleasing format. I am in the process of rewriting them into more palatable format. If you have any books you'd like to recommend to me, please do so. If you'd like more information on a writer, i.e. other titles I don't mention here (in recommending a series, trilogy, etcetera, I rarely list out all the titles), or more information on a book, let me know. Recommend me a book that evokes my sense of wonder and won't let me put it down and you'll have my eternal thanks. Enjoy.