NUMBER: 25

Genre: Fiction; Origin: USA; Pages: 100

Satisfaction rating: 2.0

OVERVIEW:

In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future, a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world–all told with the dramatic blend of science fact & science fiction that became Asmiov’s trademark.

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NUMBER: 27

Genre: Fiction; Origin: USA; Pages: 150

Satisfaction rating: 8.5

OVERVIEW:

Mack and his friends are trying to do something nice for their friend Doc. Mack hits on the idea that they should throw a party, and the entire community rapidly becomes involved. Unfortunately, the party rages out of control, ruining Doc’s lab and home. In an effort to return to Doc’s good graces, Mack and the boys decide to throw another party. From vagrants to prostitutes to factory workers and scientists, the novel is a collection of linked vignettes describing the colourful locals and the collective life of Cannery Row.

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NUMBER: 32

Genre: Non-fiction; Origin: Germany; Pages: 80

Satisfaction rating: 6.5

OVERVIEW:

The Manifesto of the Communist Party, usually referred to as The Communist Manifesto, was first published on February 21, 1848, and is one of the world’s most influential political tracts. Commissioned by the Communist League and written by communist theorists Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, it laid out the League’s purposes and program. The Manifesto suggested a course of action for a proletarian (working class) revolution to overthrow the bourgeois social order and to eventually bring about a classless and stateless society, and the abolition of private property.

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NUMBER: 34

Genre: Fiction; Origin: Russia; Pages: 100

Satisfaction rating: 10.0

OVERVIEW:

Ivan Ilych Golovin, a high court judge in St. Petersburg with a wife and family, lives a carefree life which is “most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible”. One day, after falling while hanging curtains, he begins to suffer from a mysterious pain in his left abdomen. The pain becomes more and more excruciating. He is forced to visit physicians, who cannot pinpoint the source of his malady, and soon it becomes clear that his condition is terminal. He is brought face to face with his mortality, and realizes that although he knows of it, he does not truly grasp it.

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NUMBER: 38

Genre: Fiction; Origin: Japan; Pages: 100

Satisfaction rating: 7.0

OVERVIEW:

This modern classic invites the reader to discover a unique tradition that has come to symbolize the wisdom, beauty, and the elegant simplicity of Asian culture. The author celebrates the Way of Tea from its ancient origins in Chinese Taoism to its culmination in the Zen discipline known as the Japanese tea ceremony-an enchanting practice bringing together such arts as architecture, pottery, and flower arranging to create an experience that delights the senses, calms the mind, and refreshes the spirit.

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