This reader’s recommendations and supporting excerpts from the sampled discussions.
8 books
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
as well as several of the sequels
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey