Welcome Back, fellow Readers!
Millions of books come out every year, and since the dawn of the printing press, US men and women have flocked to read the pages of books written by writers either by candlelight or by lamplight. We stay up late and turn through the pages, excited to read the following line and chapter.
Many books go by the wayside, and I think these books deserve more love than they have received from the reading community. So here goes in no particular order other than as they come to mind…
Ubik By Philip K Dick
The story is set in a future in 1992, where psychic abilities are used in corporate espionage. Technology allows recently deceased people to be maintained in a lengthy state of hibernation. The book follows Glen Runciter, who runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when a rival ambushes him and his top team, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving team members begin experiencing strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world moving backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all.
Ubik explores many of Philip K Dicks usual themes like alienation, isolation, theological mystery, and the disconnection of humans from advancing technology. As stated, the writer is none other than the prolific visionary that was Philip K Dick, whose books have been turned into countless films, Minority Report, Radio Free Abernathy, A Scanner Darkly (my favorite), and many others.
Ubik is a page-turner with witty character banter, twists, and turns that would lead all astray. The characters are related, Joe Chip being one of his most relatable heroes, and the world presented is an exciting one that will leave you wondering if the world you witnessed is real or a reality not of our own.
Everyday By David Levithan
Every day a different body. Every day is a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally, A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
The main character is a consciousness that takes over a body for a day and moves on to another. Since its birth, it has done this and has been perfectly fine inhabiting someone and moving on, but one day he meets a girl as stated above, and his wants and needs change. It is an interesting story of an entity finding love and trying to survive. The book is much better than the movie, which turned into a romantic comedy as they usually do.
Not long after its release, the writer made another title that tells the same story but from the perspective of the female character and her meeting, A. I have not read that, and I probably won’t, but if you like this one and you do, let me know how it is.
Luther: The Calling By Neil Cross
Meet Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. He’s a homicide detective with an extraordinary case-clearance rate. He’s obsessive, instinctive, and intense. Nobody who ever stood at his side has a bad word to say about him. And yet there are rumors that Luther is bad—not corrupt, but tormented. After years of chasing the most depraved criminals in London’s gritty underworld, he seethes with a hidden fury he can barely control, making him do things any other detective wouldn’t and shouldn’t do.
Luther is the only book on this list that came after a Television show. The creator wrote the book as a prequel to the show’s first season, and it is as masterful a book as any. The characters remain true, and the story is engrossing as it leads to its end and the beginning of the television show. It’s great reading for anyone who likes detective novels or shows and will be a good start before you watch the series, as it’s now becoming a film that will premiere on Netflix.
