PLAYLIST : BOOKS BY TOPIC
older ages
This is (obviously) not a comprehensive list. Simply stories I’ve enjoyed and appreciated that illuminate certain tasks, topics, or subjects worth illuminating. Let me know of additions or ideas!
Adventures & Journeys
The Rocket by Ray Bradbury (1951, dad comes up with a solution to space travel)
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2011, novelette)
Aging
The English Pupil by Andrea Barrett (1996, Carl Linnaeus as an elderly man)
The Waves by Ken Liu (2012, novelette, the biologically immortal in space)
Animals / pets
coming eventually
Animals - Dinosaurs
A Great Day for Brontosaurs by Michael Swanwick (2002, short story)
Triceratops Summer by Michael Swanwick (2006, short story)
Betrayal
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (2014, short story)
Simulacrum by Ken Liu (2011, tech that allows holographic interactive memories)
Biography
coming eventually
Books & Reading
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (2020, short story)
Childhood - general
coming eventually
Cities & urban life
coming eventually
Country life & rural
coming eventually
Creatures, Monsters, Aliens, Mythical Beasts
Dinosaurs
A Great Day for Brontosaurs by Michael Swanwick (2002, short story)
Triceratops Summer by Michael Swanwick (2006, short story)
Good Hunting by Ken Liu (2012)
Cultures - non-U.S.
All the Flavors by Ken Liu (2012, short story, Chinese in Idaho)
Averroës's Search by Jorges Luis Borges (1947, Arab, Greek trouble of not sharing definitions)
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King by Ken Liu (2013, short story, China)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011, novella, China/Japan)
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (2011, mother-son culture clash)
Dystopia / future / speculative
The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick (2002, short story)
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin (1973, short story)
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury (1950, short story)
Eating & food
coming eventually
Espionage & Spies
Black Box by Jennifer Egan (2012)
Exploration
Mono no aware by Ken Liu (2012, space ark)
The Waves by Ken Liu (2012, novelette, the biologically immortal in space)
Fairy Tales / Folk Tales / Mythology
Urdumheim by Michael Swanwick (2007, a story of language and Babel as I’ve never imagined.)
History - 1800s
All the Flavors by Ken Liu (2012, short story, Chinese in Idaho)
History - Modern
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu (2012, short story)
History - World War II
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011, novella)
Humor, wicked wit, great endings
coming eventually
Ideas (big ones)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Candide by Voltaire
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
Immortality
The Waves by Ken Liu (2012, novelette, the biologically immortal in space)
Issues - Immigration
All the Flavors by Ken Liu (2012, short story, Chinese in Idaho)
Issues - Privacy
Perfect Match by Ken Liu (2012, what we surrender to algorithms)
Issues-Race
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu (2012, short story)
Language, Words, Linguistics, Meaning
Averroës's Search by Jorges Luis Borges (1947)
Urdumheim by Michael Swanwick (2007, a story of language and Babel as I’ve never imagined.)
Libraries
coming eventually
Memory
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu (2012)
The English Pupil by Andrea Barrett (1996, Carl Linnaeus as an elderly man)
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (1890, short story)
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (2011, mother-son, origami)
Simulacrum by Ken Liu (2011, tech that allows holographic interactive memories)
Perspectives & POV - multiple
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011, novella, WWII)
Outdoors
coming eventually
Parents & Parenting
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition by Ken Liu (2012, short story)
The Rocket by Ray Bradbury (1951, dad comes up with a solution to space travel)
War by Luigi Pirandello (1918, short story)
Parents - moms
Bad Latch by Curtis Sittenfeld (2018)
Relationships - Family / relatives
coming eventually
Relationships - Friendship
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu (2012, short story, multigenerational)
Good Hunting by Ken Liu (2012)
The Literomancer by Ken Liu (2010, Cold War-China-America, friendship with elderly man)
The Three-Day Blow by Ernest Hemingway (1925, short story)
Relationships - Multigenerational & Grandparents
All the Flavors by Ken Liu (2012, short story, Chinese man/Idaho girl in 1800s)
The Literomancer by Ken Liu (2010, Cold War-China-America, friendship with elderly man)
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (short story)
Relationships - Parents & Children
Mono no aware by Ken Liu (2012, space ark)
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (2011, mother-son culture clash, origami)
The Rocket by Ray Bradbury (1951, dad comes up with a solution to space travel)
Simulacrum by Ken Liu (2011, tech that allows holographic interactive memories)
Relationships - Romantic/Dating
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu (2012)
Long Walk to Forever by Kurt Vonnegut (1960)
Mono no aware by Ken Liu (2012, space ark)
Perfect Match by Ken Liu (2012, what we surrender to algorithms)
Relationships - Siblings
coming eventually
Religion - Bible/Christianity
Urdumheim by Michael Swanwick (2007, a story of language and Babel as I’ve never imagined.)
Revenge
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2011, novelette)
Good Hunting by Ken Liu (2012)
Seasons
coming eventually
Setting - Europe
The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport (2002, future Paris, two rascals attempt to scam a dying scion in a scheme involving the missing Eiffel Tower, a a crafty cat, and…a gun.
Sickness, injuries, getting hurt
coming eventually
Sleeping / bedtime
coming eventually
Society
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel by Ken Liu (2012, short story)
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut (1961)
The Lost Children by Ursula Le Guin
Perfect Match by Ken Liu (2012, what we surrender to algorithms)
Simulacrum by Ken Liu (2011, tech that allows holographic interactive memories)
Subject - Science
The English Pupil by Andrea Barrett (1996, short story, Carl Linnaeus)
Survival
A Walk in the Sun by Geoffrey A. Landis (1991, stranded on moon)
Mono no aware by Ken Liu (2012, space ark)
Time Travel
Legions in Time by Michael Swanwick (2003, novelette, a fresh take on time travel. Seriously.)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011, novella, WWII)
Triceratops Summer by Michael Swanwick (2006, short story)
War / Violence
Hello, Said the Stick by Michael Swanwick (2002, short story)
The Literomancer by Ken Liu (2010, Cold War-China-America, friendship with elderly man)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011, novella, WWII)
War by Luigi Pirandello (1918, short story)
