Susan A. Byatt
Possession A romance
Intelligent and well-written.
Make sure you know about flowers. Never seen so many mentioned in a book.

Steven Pressfield
Gates of fire
Spartans at the Thermopylae.

Stephen King
It
Found it kind over the top particularly when approaching the end but the last pages, describing the post-climax of the story are brilliant and saddening.

 

Lennox is Prof. of mathematics at Oxford University.

https://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/about/fellows/john-lennox/

 

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553802577

Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier by Stephen E. Ambrose
https://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Pioneering-Americas-2016-08-11

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Wake-Last-Crossing-Lusitania/dp/0307408876

The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600
https://www.amazon.com/Measure-Reality-Quantification-Western-1250-1600/dp/0521639905

 

You are right about “that” Pablo being the second most famous Colombian.
Garcia-Marquez would be third then.

Infamous is a more accurate adjective for Mr Escobar.

And Shakira definitely merits the more positive one.

 

I have another one.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.

It is the height of the legal thriller, a genre that I enjoy. If you saw the movie and were not impressed, that is okay. They left out the most brilliant aspect of the novel.

On the other hand, if you are tempted to read anything by John Grisham (another in that genre.) Forget it and watch the movie instead, where they fixed at least some if the fatal flaws n his books.

 

After I wrote this post, I mentioned this same idea to a WhatsApp group from fellow university mates. From about 38 people in the group, about 7 decided to form a “reading group” which would decide on a book title to read, and then we will meet every Tuesday evening to discuss a pair of the chapters.
I am so excited for the intellectual stimulation!

The first chosen book was The Maniac, by Benjamin Labatut. With emphasis on the life of John von Neumann and his accomplishments, and the impact on our modern life, the book manages to talk about many ancillary scientific luminaries of the early XX Century.
The very first paragraph of the very first chapter is so gripping, that you want to devour the whole book.

 

Ender"s Game, Ender's Shadow by Orson Scot Card ,
The Expanse series by James SA Corey,
Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven,
Run by Blake Crouch,
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress br Robert Heinlein.

 

French (original)
Impostures intellectuelles — Alan Sokal et Jean Bricmont.

UK
Intellectual Impostures — Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont.

USA
Fashionable Nonsense — Alan D. Sokal and Jean Bricmont.

Found the content, surprising. Chapter 1 on Lacan, the first shock.

In my list for re-reading once I finish Le Grand Meaulnes - Alain Fournier.

 

Reamde by Neal Stephenson ,
Player of Games by Iain M Banks ,
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

 

The Dice Man the best American novel you've never heard of.

I'm not much of a novel reader, preferring short stories (ghosts, sci-fi) and non-fiction mostly, but The Dice Man was unputdownable for me, very rare.

 

Speaking of ghosts, this classic collection is legendary, old school English writer, who was provost at Oxford University and himself a well known antiquarian.

He was an expert at creating an atmosphere of deep uncertainty, dread rather than explicit horror, these stories are something I come back to often, best read in winter, when its dark and eerie outside...

 

The White Company and Sir Nigel, by Arthur Conan Doyle. I own a first edition book of the latter title.