Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (1987, ISBN 978-0-316-00538-8)

 Wikipedia says-- Consider Phlebas, first published in 1987, is a space opera novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. It is the first in a series of novels about an interstellar post-scarcity society called the Culture. 

 About some actions that take place in distant future involving humans, aliens and machines. There was at least one part that I found gross, but in general a good read. Lots of stuff to fire the imagination and ponder.

Purchased from Powell's on 2020-1-12 for 10.95$

21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari (2018, ISBN 978-0-525-51217-2)

A collection of essays that respond to questions from readers of his first two books (Sapiens and Homo Deus.)

Subjects are "The end of history has been postponed", "when you grow up, you might not have a job", "Big Data is watching you", "those who own the data own the future", "humans have bodies", "there is just one civilization in the world", and 15 more...

Like his other books I would regard this as a must read for those who like to think.

Purchased from Amazon, 2018-09-28 from 16.70$