Raft by Stephen Baxter (1991, ISBN 978-1-473-22405-6)

Science fiction novel. 

Stephen Baxter''s highly acclaimed first novel and the beginning of his stunning Xeelee Sequence finally enters the SF Masterwork series!

A spaceship from Earth accidentally crossed through a hole in space-time to a universe where the force of gravity is one billion times as strong as the gravity we know. Somehow the crew survived, aided by the fact that they emerged into a cloud of gas surrounding a black hole, which provided a breathable atmosphere.

Five hundred years later, their descendants still struggle for existence, divided into two main groups. The Miners live on the Belt, a ramshackle ring of dwellings orbiting the core of a dead star, which they excavate for raw materials. These can be traded for food from the Raft, a structure built from the wreckage of the ship, on which a small group of scientists preserve the ancient knowledge which makes survival possible.

Rees is a Miner whose curiosity about his world makes him stow away on a flying tree - just one of the many strange local lifeforms - carrying trade between the Belt and the Raft. And what he finds will change his world...

Purchased 2022-02-18 from Amazon for $11.91
 

Use Of Weapons by Iain M Banks (1990, ISBN 978-0-316-03057-1)

Science fiction novel. Part of the Culture series. 

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past.

Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, Use of Weapons is a masterpiece of science fiction.

Purchased 2022-08-17 from Powells (Hawthorne) for $16.99
 

The Player Of Games by Iain M Banks (1988, ISBN 978-0-316-00540-1)

 Science fiction novel. Part of the Culture series. 

The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer, and strategy. Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.

Purchased 2022-06-13 from Amazon Marketplace for $6.95
 

Against A Dark Background by Iain M. Banks (1993, ISBN 978-0-316-03637-5)

Scifi novel.  See the wikipeda article for plot summary.

When I bought this I thought it was part of the Culture series. It is not. Still was interesting.

Purchased 2022-11-20 Amazon $17.99
 

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson (1988, ISBN  978-1-473-21742-3)

 Wikipedia says-  Mona Lisa Overdrive is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, published in 1988. It is the final novel of the cyberpunk Sprawl trilogy, following Neuromancer and Count Zero, taking place eight years after the events of the latter.

Purchased at Powell's on 2020-01-24 for 8.98$
 

Count Zero by William Gibson (1986, ISBN 978-0-441-11773-4)
 

Wikipedia says-  Count Zero is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, originally published in 1986. It is the second volume of the Sprawl trilogy, which begins with Neuromancer and concludes with Mona Lisa Overdrive, and is an example of the cyberpunk subgenre.

 A good read. I think of this as a dystopian vision of the future.

Purchased at Powell's on 2020-02-24 for 7.99$

 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1867, Signet Classics CT512)

Here.

Wikipedia says- The story centers on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. 

aka the Male Cinderella.

Dickens description of London is so dismal, one wonders how people could live there.

I liked this book.  Intend to read more Dickens.

Purchased-- was given to me as a Christmas present in the 1960s.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (1983, ISBN 978-0-06-085592-5)
 

 Wikipedia says-- The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series.

 

Further--  The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilizations, cities, forests and mountains. 

 

This is a fun novel. I enjoyed it very much. Hope to read more in the series.

Purchased at Powell's on (unknown ) for 6.98$

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$

Pickwick Papers By Charles Dickens (1837, this edition 1964, Signet Classic CY 443)

Originally published in serial format and when completed was published as a complete book.

From the back cover--

"The adventures of the immortal Pickwick Club, headed by the good Mr. Pickwick himself, abetted by his faithful manservant, Sam Weller..."

Received this book as Christmas present sometime in the late 1960s, Signet Classic CY443 1.25$

Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984, ISBN 0-441-56959-5)

This is the first part (of three) of what became known as the Sprawl series. I am not sure but this novel may have introduced the term cyberpunk.

I have been hearing about this novel for years and I decided to read it (probably around 2006) but have just now read it.

I enjoyed the book, but some of the imagery was difficult. The story involves a small number of people who go on a quest, but the objective of the quest is hidden from them and the reader until the end. The main character Case was someone who could enter into computers and somehow get them to do things or reveal things. It wasn't clear to me if he did this with programs or what he used.

I didn't like the drug references in the novel. Since this novel was written some of the futuristic ideas seem less futuristic. While "Big Data" and AI will probably come to have a large affect on our lives it seems unlikely to me that they will be free to roam around "cyberspace" doing what they want, more likely is that they will be tools used by corporations to control people.

The vision of the future presented in the novel is dystopian.

Purchased probably at Powell's books sometime in 2006 for 7.99$

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan (aka Angus Donald) (2019, ISBN 978-0-4514-9027-8) Subtitled- A Lord of the Islands Novel.

This is a fantasy novel that takes place in alternate version of Asia. Most of the action takes place in an area that might be similar to Java sea. The characters move about on foot or in sailing ships. They fight with swords and muskets and sometimes cannons. Magic is present and some characters can do magical things. There are several threads of story line that are followed in alternate chapters until the end when several of the threads merge. While the stories are concluded there is much more to be told and so this novel may be the first of a series.

Received as Christmas present 2019 (purchased at Powells books for 16.00$ on 2019-12-23.)

Empire Of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio (2018, ISBN 978-0-7564-1301-9) Book One of the Sun Eater Series.

Fantasy Science Fiction. About a human empire 17,000 years in the future. Sort of like Roman Empire meets Star Wars. Some have compared it to Dune.

I found it easy to read, well written.

Received as Christmas present 2019 (was purchased at Powells books for 8.99$ on 2019-12-23.)

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. 1976 Folio Press (BOMC edition.) ISBN 978-0850671063. The story of Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Marius, Javert and many many more characters. A very complex story of hardship, sadness and happiness.
I found this translation very readable. This is a deluxe printing which I got from the Book Of The Month Club, probably back in the late 1970s.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien 1937, ISBN 0-395-17711-1 and 01532. A fantasy novel about a world inhabited by various humanoid creatures called Hobbits, Dwarves, Wizards, Elves, Goblins, Dragons, etc. Very entertaining and very popular. This is the third time I have read this book. Twice I read the paperback shown (01532 Ballantine Books) and once the hardback slipcase edition. The paperback was purchased back in 1971 or 1972 for 95 cents. The hardback was purchased on 2002-1-2 from Borders Books for $35.00.

In The Quarter by Robert W. Chambers. 1894. This is a short novel about a student living in Paris and studying art. It appears to have been Mr. Chambers first novel. I found it easy to read. The version I read was an ebook (pg6893.mobi) file created from a Project Gutenberg text. I don't remember where I found it. I read it on my Kindle. I think you can also find pdf of this file on books.google.com.

Fear Of Flying by Erica Jong. Signet 451 J6139. Novel. This the story of Isadora Wing, a young woman trying to determine who she is and what she wants. She is a feminist or at least is searching for what that means. The novel describes many of her sexual adventures and coins the term zipless f*ck. Well written and easy to read, the novel contains many references to literature and psychology.
This book was purchased on February 7, 1978 at the Varsity Book Exchange for one dollar.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Bantam S2807. I've had this book for years, but I never read it. Lots of people read it in school, but it was never assigned to me and so I never got around to reading it. It doesn't seem very realistic to me. New York in the 1940's must have been a crazy place.

Anthem by Ayn Rand. Signet 451-W7846. My copy of this book is much older than the one I linked to. I am guessing that I bought it sometime in the late 80's, but it was probably used. It doesn't have an ISBN. Probably dates to the 60s. I have four other books by her, maybe I'll get around to reading them someday. The story in this book is not very believable. It is contrived to allow the author to make the point of how great is individualism. It was written at a time when the Soviet Union was considered a success by some people. Clearly, those days are gone. This book is a poor example of a genre (dystopian science-fiction) that I would say includes books like Brave New World, 1984, Animal Farm. Read them before you read this.