The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler; 1993; 350 pp. 

In this post-apocalyptic novel, Olamina / Lauren - who suffers from hyperempathy - in which she feels any pain that she witnesses - plans to escape a Los Angeles that has descended into chaos and violence to find somewhere to start a new religion based on the inevitability of change.

FYI - This book contains all factors associated with a total breakdown in society - violence, sexual assault, etc.

The Testaments (2019, 400 pp.) by Margaret Atwood

The sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, this speculative fiction novel imagines a world in which a far-right group seizes power and transforms the U.S. into Gilead, a theocracy in which women have no rights. 

FYI - The Handmaid's Tale contains vivid sexual encounters and both books contain references to extreme, state-sanctioned violence.

Oryx and Crake OR The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood; 2003, 2009; 400 pp. each, but a breeze to read

These two books are part of the Maddadam trilogy, but Atwood says that it doesn’t matter which you read first.  Both tell of a post-apocalyptic future: Oryx and Crake is through the eyes of Jimmy, a friend of the man responsible for killing billions. The Year of the Flood focuses on two exploited female characters - Toby and Ren - who also survive the “waterless flood.” 

FYI - These books contain a lot of sex, abuse, and violence. If these things bother you, please don't choose it.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick; 1968; 240 pages

A World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, even fake ones. This novel explores how empathy makes us human.

FYI - The Bladerunner movies are loosely based on this novel.

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov; 1972; 288 pp.    

Asimov is considered by many to be the king of American

science fiction. This is hard sci-fi about two parallel

universes that share an energy connection and problem,

but it's actually pretty easy to read.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut; 1963; 300 pages

Considered to be “soft sci-fi,” Vonnegut’s sardonic prose is a joy to read. The fictitious island of San Lorenzo satirizes government and religion; the compound “ice-nine” ridicules unbridled scientific progress and the atomic bomb.

FYI - Vonnegut is very easy to read but hard to pin down themes to write about.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver; 1986; 300 pp. 

Narrator Taylor Greer leaves backwoods KY to start her own life in AZ, picking up an orphaned Cherokee girl on the way and eventually rooming with Lou Ann Ruiz, a recently-divorced single mother. 

FYI - This is a pretty political novel that unabashedly supports women's rights, refugees, and the environment.

The Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead; 2021; 336 pp. 

"From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, this gloriously entertaining novel is 'fast-paced, keen-eyed and very funny ... about race, power and the history of Harlem all disguised as a thrill-ride crime novel'" (San Francisco Chronicle).

FYI: It starts a bit slow but then turns into a thrilling heist novel.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath; 1963; 244 pp. 

This is a first-person account of a young woman's struggle with depression, despite having a dream internship at a fashion magazine.

FYI: The main character is suicidal for most of the novel.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin; 1974; 200 pp. 

A young black couple is excited to start their lives together until the husband is incarcerated for a crime he did not commit.

FYI: This novel deals with systemic racism and failures in our justice system.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker; 1982; 250 pp.

“A feminist novel about an abused and uneducated black woman's struggle for empowerment.” – The Merriam Webster Encyclopedia of Lit  

FYI - The book is quite different than the movie(s) and contains a lesbian relationship and vivid descriptions of sexual abuse. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith; 1943; 450 pp.

“The story focuses on an impoverished but aspirational adolescent girl and her family living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, during the first two decades of the 20th century.” - Goodreads 

FYI - This book is more charming than it is exciting.

 The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri; 2019; 336 pp.

"Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri brilliantly illuminates the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations. Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity from 'a writer of uncommon elegance and poise.'" (The New York Times)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan; 1989; 352 pages

"Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's 'saying' the stories." - Amazon Description

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole; 1987; 350 pp.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows anti-hero Ignatius Reilly’s hilarious adventures in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

FYI - You need to have a good and perhaps obscure sense of humor to enjoy this book.