Recommendations based on Thank You for Smokingby Christopher Buckley

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Life, the Universe and Everything

    by Douglas Adams
    An intergalactic quest to find the answer to the ultimate question of life.

    After being stranded on pre-historic Earth after the events in, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, , Arthur Dent is met by his old friend Ford Prefect , who drags him into a space-time eddy , ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Cat's Cradle

    by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
    A satirical exploration of human folly, exposing the dangers of unchecked science and technology.

    Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ... Dr Felix Hoenikker, ... (Goodreads)

  3. It's a Magical World

    by Bill Watterson
    A collection of philosophical comic strips featuring the adventures of Calvin and Hobbes.

    When cartoonist Bill Watterson announced that his phenomenally popular cartoon strip would be discontinued, Calvin and Hobbes fans throughout the world went into mourning. Fans have learned to ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. Farewell, My Lovely

    by Raymond Chandler
    A hard-boiled detective's adventures as he investigates a complex case of murder and corruption.

    Private detective Philip Marlowe is investigating a dead-end missing person case when he sees a felon, Moose Malloy, barging into a nightclub called Florian's, looking for his ex-girlfriend Velma ... (Wikipedia)

  5. A Song of Ice and Fire

    by George R.R. Martin
    Epic fantasy series of political intrigue, alliances, and warfare in a mythical land.

    George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that ... (Goodreads)

  6. Wool

    by Hugh Howey
    In a post-apocalyptic world, people live in a giant silo underground, but secrets threaten to unravel their society.

    The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. , Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending one hundred forty-four stories beneath the surface. The series ... (Wikipedia)

  7. A Dirty Job

    by Christopher Moore
    A comedic journey of a man's life as he is forced to confront death and the underworld.

    The story centers on Charlie Asher, a "beta-male" (as opposed to " alpha-male ") who leads a satisfying life as the owner and proprietor of a second-hand store in San Francisco. At the moment when ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    by Douglas Adams
    An eccentric space adventure filled with comedic misadventures and cosmic revelations.

    At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five novels from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a ... (Goodreads)

  9. All the King's Men

    by Robert Penn Warren
    A powerful political drama that follows a governor's rise and fall as he grapples with ambition, morality and power.

    All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his ... (Goodreads)

  10. Infected

    by Scott Sigler
    A mysterious virus turns people into violent monsters. A group of survivors must fight for their lives and find a cure before it's too late.

    The book follows several characters as they deal with an alien invasion on the microscopic level. The narration is primarily through the perspectives of Perry Dawsey, an ex-football player with an ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The End of the Affair

    by Graham Greene
    A man's obsession and journey of love, struggling with faith, hatred and forgiveness.

    "A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses a moment of experience from which to look ahead..." "This is a record of hate far more than of love," writes Maurice Bendrix in the opening ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Martian Chronicles

    by Ray Bradbury
    Human colonists struggle for survival on Mars, facing the challenges of a new world.

    The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The Martian Chronicles tells the story of ... (Goodreads)

  13. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

    by Peter Cameron
    A coming-of-age story of a teenage boy struggling to cope with change and life's struggles.

    James Sveck, 18, is an isolated young adult caught in the summer before he is to begin college at Brown University . The only person in his life with whom he is able to successfully relate is his ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Master and Margarita

    by Mikhail Bulgakov
    A fantastical, satirical examination of Soviet life, intersecting with the supernatural.

    The novel has two settings. The first is Moscow during the 1930s, where Satan appears at Patriarch's Ponds as Professor Woland . He is accompanied by Koroviev, a grotesquely-dressed valet; Behemoth , ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Roadside Picnic

    by Arkady Strugatsky
    Two scientists explore a mysterious, abandoned alien landscape to uncover secrets.

    The novel is set in a post-visitation world where there are now six zones known on Earth that are full of unexplained phenomena and where strange happenings have briefly occurred, assumed to have ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Divisadero

    by Michael Ondaatje
    A story of family, love, and loss, set in the 1970s California.

    From the celebrated author of The English Patient and Anil's Ghost comes a remarkable, intimate novel of intersecting lives that ranges across continents and time. In the 1970s in Northern California ... (Goodreads)

  17. Independence Day

    by Richard Ford
    A Midwestern family's struggles to hold on to their values in the face of economic hardship.

    The novel follows Frank Bascombe, a New Jersey real estate agent (and ex-sportswriter), through the titular holiday weekend as he visits his ex-wife, his troubled son, his current lover, the tenants ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Night Soldiers

    by Alan Furst
    Espionage thriller set in 1930's Europe, as the world slowly descends into war.

    Bulgaria, 1934. A young man is murdered by the local fascists. His brother, Khristo Stoianev, is recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and sent to Spain to serve in its ... (Goodreads)

  19. More Tales of the City

    by Armistead Maupin
    A group of colorful characters navigate life and love in 1970s San Francisco.

    The story begins about a couple months from where Tales of the City ended. Michael ("Mouse") Tolliver and Mary Ann Singleton go on a cruise, thanks to money given to her by her former boss, Edgar ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Coyote Blue

    by Christopher Moore
    A modern-day folktale of a man's quest to break the cycle of Native American curses.

    From Christopher Moore, author of Fluke, comes a quirky, irreverent novel of love, myth, metaphysics, outlaw biking, angst, and outrageous redemption. As a boy growing up in Montana, he was Samson ... (Goodreads)

  21. The World According to Garp

    by John Irving
    A humorous and heart-wrenching journey of life, love and literature.

    This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields—a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a ... (Goodreads)

  22. American Psycho

    by Bret Easton Ellis
    A corporate psychopath's descent into homicidal madness, exposing the dark side of 1980s New York.

    Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Oryx and Crake

    by Margaret Atwood
    An exploration of a post-apocalyptic world, and the power of human nature.

    The novel focuses on a post-apocalyptic character called "Snowman", living near a group of primitive human-like creatures whom he calls Crakers . Flashbacks reveal that Snowman was once a boy named ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Practical Demonkeeping

    by Christopher Moore
    A comedic fantasy adventure of a demon-hunting demonologist.

    Travis was born in 1900, yet he has not aged since 1919, because he accidentally called up a demon from hell named Catch as his servant, presumably forever. Ever since then, Travis has been trying to ... (Wikipedia)

  25. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Netherland

    by Joseph O'Neill
    A man's journey through grief, finding solace in the game of cricket.

    Netherland opens on protagonist Hans van den Broek, a Dutch financial analyst living in London with his English wife Rachel, but quickly flashes back to the years Hans spent in New York City before ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Juliet, Naked

    by Nick Hornby
    A story about a complex love triangle, set against a backdrop of music and fandom.

    Duncan, an obsessive music fan, receives a CD of Juliet, Naked , an album of solo acoustic demos of the songs on the album Juliet by his favourite artist, Tucker Crowe. Duncan's girlfriend, Annie, ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Hyperion

    by Dan Simmons
    Epic science-fiction story of a journey to the distant planet Hyperion.

    In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Neverwhere

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.

    Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)

  30. I, Robot

    by Isaac Asimov
    A collection of science fiction stories exploring the relationship between humans and robots.

    Isaac Asimov's I, Robot launches readers on an adventure into a not-so-distant future where man and machine , struggle to redefinelife, love, and consciousness—and where the stakes are nothing less ... (Goodreads)