Ubik

J.R.R. Tolkien: The lord of the Rings (lost count) Philip K. Dick: Ubik, Flow My Tears The Policeman Said, A Scanner Darkly, etc. too many to count (many more than twice) William Gibson: everything at least twice Neal Stephenson: Snow crash (three times, I think) Clifford D. Simak: City H. P. Lovecraft: everything at least twice. There is a French compilation of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Silver Key, and Through the Gates of the Silver Key that I've read countless times. I've used two editions and I'm at my third. Maurice G. Dantec: Babylon Babies (three times) Possibly many others.

Many of Philip K. Dick books and short stories, but Ubik and A Maze of Death are my favorites. William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive) Douglas N. Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Frank Herbert's Dune books Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human Robert A. Heinlein - Citizen of the Galaxy Robert Charles Wilson's Spin trilogy Frederik Pohl's Heechee books

Definitely Ubik by Phillip K. Dick

The Bible (technically working on my 2nd cover-to-cover readthrough, but have read individual books in it many times, especially the Gospel of Matthew). All of Kafka's novels, but especially "The Castle". Several of PKD's novels: "The Man in the High Castle", "Through a Scanner Darkly", "Ubiq" "The Silmarillion" (when I was a young adult) Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency" (when I was a teenager)

I started in the world of sci-fi books with Nightfall from Asimov, short but extremely interesting. Then I followed with Ubik from Philip Dick, I recommend it 100%.

My Favorite Sci-Fi book is Neuromancer by William Gibson. Also Philip K. Dick books like Ubik or his short stories are awesome.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem Permutation City by Greg Egan Ubik by Philip K. Dick

I would recommend Ubik by Phillip K Dick. It reads like a thriller and a mind bender. It sort of has the feel of the movie Inception if you liked that. It's not too long or hard to read, and it's completely self contained. The more I read by Phillip K Dick the more I appreciate his ideas. I also second a recommendation for A Player of Games someone noted above.

The full list: https://gitlab.com/rlease/Books My list lines up with a lot of books that people have recommended here, so I'll try to add a few favorites that haven't been mentioned so far. Fiction: 1. Ubik - I read a bunch of Philip K. Dick this year, but this was my favorite. It's delightfully mind bending and left me thinking about it long after the book was done. 2. All the Pretty Horses - Beautifully written. McCarthy has an uncanny ability to paint with words. 3. Cannery Row - Short, witty, and full of interesting characters. Nonfiction: 1. The Idea Factory - A dive into how Bell Labs became such an innovation powerhouse and gives a rounded picture of the figureheads that brought it so much fame. 2. Moonwalking with Einstein - A fun read about a journalist who took researching a memory competition a bit too seriously. 3. Countdown to Zero Day - A fascinating look at the development and deployment of Stuxnet -- the virus built to set Iran's nuclear program back.

I know the pain. Well, it would be worth your while once you get to it - as I said, "Ubik" is pretty awesome. "The Man in the High Castle" too, although it's different, not that much of "pure" s-f element, it's political fiction, but still very Dickesque (it depicts a world where nazis won the war - where certain writer gains fame for his alternative history novel in which they actually lost :) ).

I agree, but it's not just VALIS. Probably most of his prose dealt with this theme. Personally I liked "Ubik" better.

TIE!!! "The Crying of Lot 49" by Pynchon // "The Demolished Man" by Bester // "Ubik" by Dick !!!

Philip K. Dick (Ubik, Man in the high castle, Flow my tears the police man said) Frederik Pohl (Gateway, the Space Merchants) Ursula K. Le Guin (The Dispossessed, Left Hand of Darkness) Iain M. Banks (Culture novels) You will find many Sci-Fi treasures by just going through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SF_Masterworks

Ubik by Philip K Dick.

I will pick more than 1: Ubik by Philip K. Dick (it's hard to cherry pick his best work though, ask me a different day and I will choose The Three Stigmata or Do Androids Dream or something else) The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (simply a good story and a great background) 1984 by George Orwell. What all these books share is the idea that sci-fi is about social, cultural and economic dynamics, not ships or time travel. That is my definition of sci-fi: An on-going essay about the evolution of the dynamics of society, using exotic technology/science merely as a catalyst. Runner up: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Could never finish (can't recommend): - Neuromancer - Cryptonomicon (Does the author feel entitled to mock the homosexuality of Alan Turing? Found that somewhat arrogant and in bad taste.)

Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are good books, especially for just starting to read again. Ubik is my favorite PKD book followed closely by Electric Sheep. The His Dark Materials isn't really sci-fi so much as fantasy but it is quite a good read (though if you didn't have a kindle it might be embarrassing buying them from the young adult section, they are quite adult though). I think a huge thing missing from your list is the Foundation series from Asimov (I recommend going in order of publishing, start with Foundation move onto Foundation and Empire then Second Foundation and more if you are into it). My 2 cents.

Some more SF/Fantasy yarns: - Hyperion by Dan Simmons - 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear and all the other Zamonien books (only know german version) - Pollen by Jeff Noon - Otherland by Tad Williams - Ubik by PK Dick