1. The Lord of the Rings / J.R.R. Tolkien - The ultimate narrative of the everlasting struggle between good and evil. On its initial review the Sunday Telegraph felt it was "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century." The Sunday Times review stated that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them."
2. State of Fear / Michael Crichton - One of Crichton's, who died last month, most critical and thought provoking books on the relationship between science, capital, mass media and politics.
3. Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) / Jerome K. Jerome - First published in 1889, one of the most praised things about Three Men in a Boat is how undated it appears to modern readers; the jokes seem fresh and witty even today.
4. The Man in the High Castle / Philip K. Dick - A mesmerising novel depicting an alternative history in which Germany and Japan have won The Second World War. Like most of Dick's novels, the main themes touched upon concern life in a police state and a genuine difficulty (for both readers and characters) to ascertain what is real and what is false
5. Good Omens / Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett - Quite possibly the funniest book ever written, despite it mostly depicting the Apocalypse.
On another note, I'm devoted to keep a track record of the books mentioned during the meetings. Although I thought most people gave compelling reasons to read these books at the last meeting, I decided not to repeat them like I did in last month's post. This is a simple bullet point version of them:
1) Flowers for Algernon
2) Outliers: The Story of Success
3) How Ms Claus Saved Christmas
4) Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
5) We Need to Talk about Kevin
6) The Door
7) The Weekenders: Travels in the Heart of Africa
My guess is that Steve is reading "How Ms Claus Saved Christmas" and that Natalie is reading "Outliers: The Story of Success".
