Entropy Arbitrage Longtime Favorites
By Entropy Arbitrage
By Entropy Arbitrage
John read these over the years, and still highly recommends them. Unfortunately, due to when and where I grew up, it contains a rather acute lack of women and non-white authors, which I try to fix occasionally in the Entropy Arbitrage newsletter and its Bookshop list.
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer
Sydney Padua
$40.00 $37.20This is the alternate-universe steampunk comic (with extensive footnotes) that you didn't know that you wanted.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anniversary)
Orczy
$5.95 $5.53The story somehow delivers more than you expect.
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (Deluxe)
William Goldman
$37.00 $34.41If you love the film, you do yourself a disservice not reading the parallel-but-not-quite identical book.
Dracula
Bram Stoker
$14.99 $13.94Why no adaptation has covered the scene where the Count gets caught reading the train schedule upside-down or the final cinematic chase, I'll never know.
Don Quixote
Edith Grossman and Miguel De Cervantes
$19.99 $18.59One of the earliest Western novels, and a wonderful deconstruction of chivalric literature.
The Prostitute in the Family Tree
Adams
$28.00 $26.04A gift from someone who assumed that the author was the more famous Douglas Adams, this book talks about the deep and biting humor in the Bible.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Anniversary)
Tom Stoppard
$16.00 $14.88Reading this for school sent me to the public library for the rest of Tom Stoppard's plays, though this still reads and plays better than the others to me.
A Man for All Seasons
Robert Bolt
$15.00 $13.95I found this play highly lyrical, with characters almost seeming to function as lead and backup singers, in conversations. Plus, I share a love of Thomas More's work.
Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper, Science Fiction, Adventure
H. Beam Piper
$12.95One of the earliest science fiction stories to interrogate how we would recognize alien intelligence if we saw it, and it does the job well.
The War of the Wenuses (Dodo Press)
H G Pozzuoli
$12.99A great parody of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
Last Son of Krypton
Elliot S. Maggin
$12.99One of the best Superman stories, by one of the Man of Steel's most interesting writers.
The Adventures of Jimmie Dale
Frank L. Packard
$19.99Another superhero precursor in 1910s New York City, this one a fun-loving burglar and master of disguise who gets blackmailed into solving crimes.
Alias the Night Wind
Varick Vanardy and Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey
$19.95A precursor to the precursor to Superman, who gets roped into fighting crime in 1910s New York City.
Gladiator
Philip Wylie
$21.95 $20.41An early precursor to Superman, who would like nothing more to personally end war and go back to leading a quiet life.
Number 87
Harrington Hext
$11.95First published in 1922, about a bat-themed vigilante named Bruce, who goes on an ill-advised assassination campaign to make the world a better place.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 25th Anniversary Edition (Anniversary)
Douglas Adams
$18.99 $17.66This was hilarious satire when it came out. Now, I worry that it might read as weak parody with its dumb AI, government easy to subvert by a celebrity due to apathy, and people ignoring widespread destruction. However, the writing has not gotten worse.
Finnegans Wake
James Joyce
$25.00 $23.25I only have the vaguest idea of any story fragments, but just letting the quirky language wash through also works.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
$25.00 $23.25Adaptations are fine, but invariably get the core story wrong; it's a comedy first and romance(s) a distant second.
John Henry: An American Legend
Ezra Jack Keats
$8.99 $8.36As an avid comic book reader as a child, this picture book hit hard, hinting at how old many of the themes are, and how narrowly focused they got on white men.
Consider this list to also have directions to find authors that you might not have considered.