Right On Book PicksBook review of Gold Bug Variations

Do you need a quick pick for a good book? Want a great gift idea for a book loving adult? You can't go wrong with these right-on top picks based on the Rat's unique rating criteria.

See below for lists of the top picks in modern fiction, science fiction, and classics with links to my completely independent reviews of each book.  I also plan to add a list of best comedy novels as soon as I complete a few more reviews of comedy books.

Don't be afraid to try a new genre. The books in these lists complement each other well.  If you know you like a couple of books in one genre, consider trying out a book from another genre.

If you find these reviews helpful, support this site by buying your books from the convenient links on this site. Most reviews have three book cover images with links to my favorite on-line booksellers.  The first book cover image is usually linked to used books at Powell's which are sold at a huge discount, if available.  The second and third book cover images are for new books at Amazon and Amazon UK.  All three book sellers offer excellent prices on new books with free shipping on qualifying orders.  There are also convenient links to search for new and used books here.

Modern Fiction Top Picks:Book review of Replay

  1. Replay by Ken Grimwood   4 stars
  2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey   4 stars
  3. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell   4 stars
  4. Complicity by Iain Banks   4 stars
  5. Sleepless by Charlie Huston  4 stars
  6. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes   4 stars
  7. The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers   4 stars
  8. Possession by A. S. Byatt   4 stars
  9. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami  4 stars
  10. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell  4 stars
  11. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq   4 stars
  12. The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh  4 stars
  13. 7 Steps to Midnight by Richard Matheson  4 stars
  14. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth  4 stars
  15. The First Man by Albert Camus  4 stars
  16. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell  3.5 stars
  17. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami  3.5 stars
  18. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson  3.5 stars
  19. Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami  3 stars
  20. Skinner by Charlie Huston   3.5 stars
  21. Prodigy by Dave Kalstein   3.5 stars
  22. Light House by William Monahan   3.5 stars
  23. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole  3.5 stars
  24. House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe 3 stars
  25. A Crash Course on the Anatomy of Robots by Kent Evans 3 stars
  26. Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer 3 stars
  27. Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell  3 stars
  28. Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff 3 stars
  29. The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston 3 stars
  30. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami  3 stars

 

Science Fiction Top Picks:Book review of Altered Carbon

  1. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan   4 stars
  2. River of Gods by Ian McDonald   4 stars
  3. The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks   4 stars
  4. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller   4 stars
  5. The Martian by Andy Weir   4 stars
  6. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick   4 stars
  7. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess   4 stars
  8. Blindsight by Peter Watts   4 stars
  9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline   4 stars
  10. The Peripheral by William Gibson   3.5 stars
  11. Brave New Word by Aldous Huxley  3.5 stars
  12. Halting State by Charles Stross   3.5 stars
  13. Virtual Light by William Gibson   3.5 stars
  14. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester   3.5 stars
  15. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson   3.5 stars
  16. Saturn's Children by Charles Stross   3.5 stars
  17. Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle   3.5 stars
  18. Queen of Angels by Greg Bear  3.5 stars
  19. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi   3.5 stars
  20. Slant by Greg Bear  3.5 stars
  21. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin  3.5 stars
  22. redRobe by Jon Courtenay Grimwood  3.5 stars
  23. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge  3.5 stars
  24. Genesis by Bernard Beckett  3.5 stars
  25. Transition by Iain M. Banks  3.5 stars
  26. Starfish by Peter Watts  3.5 stars
  27. Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson  3 stars
  28. End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood   3 stars
  29. Broken Angels by Richard Morgan   3 stars
  30. Rule 34 by Charles Stross  3 stars

 

Classic Fiction Top Picks:Book review of Crime & Punishment

  1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky   4 stars
  2. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway  4 stars
  3. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer  4 stars
  4. The Stranger by Albert Camus  4 stars
  5. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas  4 stars
  6. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford  4 stars
  7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee   4 stars
  8. In Search of Lost Time (Remembrance of Things Past) by Marcel Proust  3.5 stars
  9. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne  3.5 stars
  10. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky   3.5 stars