Now and Forever

Author: Ray Bradbury

First line: There was a desert prairie filled with wind and sun and sagebrush and a silence that grew sweetly up in wildflowers.

Why you should read this book: Bradbury beats a new path through a forest of familiar old tropes in a pair of novellas that parse time and desire. In "Somewhere a Band Is Playing," a reporter travels to a desert oasis of small town fantasy where he uncovers a true understanding of youth, aging, and drinking deep from the cup of miraculous life. In "Leviathan '99," an ambitious astronaut named Ishmael is tossed through an updated reimagining of Moby Dick as his mad captain drags the crew across the universe in pursuit of the great, white comet.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You prefer love stories with more sweat and space operas with more blood.