Here are 76 books that The Star Diaries fans have personally recommended if you like The Star Diaries. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Brave New World

Delenda Carthago Author Of Nature Against

From my list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them.

Why am I passionate about this?

My greatest passion? Human nature and the endless cycles we repeat, different on the surface yet identical at their core. We build systems, cultures, and rules, destroy them, then rebuild everything in remarkably similar forms, as though we possessed no memory of the past. I have studied human nature throughout my life, but this passion took shape at university through cultural anthropology and comparative theology. Over thirty years, it has guided my work in developing human potential and talent, and has been refined further through working with thousands of people from more than 200 countries and territories. It is now the lens through which I write speculative fiction.

Delenda's book list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them

Delenda Carthago Why Delenda loves this book

Not everything that seems harmful does us harm, and not everything that seems good does us good.

I love books that make me reconsider the world I live in, and although Brave New World was published in 1932, its use of empty entertainment, sex, drugs, and medicated happiness as instruments of social control feels startlingly contemporary.

In dystopias built around punishment, power forces people to obey; here, pleasure makes them willing. The Romans already understood this through panem et circenses, and I see the same mechanism around us today. We fail to notice the cage because we are too busy seeking it out and locking ourselves inside.

This book broadened my perspective and taught me to look at apparent comforts with more suspicious eyes.

By Aldous Huxley ,

Why should I read it?

29 authors picked Brave New World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**

EVERYONE BELONGS TO EVERYONE ELSE. Read the dystopian classic that inspired the hit Sky TV series.

'A masterpiece of speculation... As vibrant, fresh, and somehow shocking as it was when I first read it' Margaret Atwood, bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale.

Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Our perfect society achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself. Now everyone belongs.

You can be happy too. All you need to do is take your Soma pills.

Discover the brave new…


If you love The Star Diaries...

Book cover of In the Fullness of Tion

In the Fullness of Tion by J.C. Gemmell,

In this collection of nine stories, J.C. Gemmell takes readers on a quest into the future.

Tion is a dystopian civilisation built on the wreckage of a drowned Earth. Here, technology saves and oppresses, and mankind clings to survival in a place where the privileged live above the clouds, and…

Book cover of Cat's Cradle

Delenda Carthago Author Of Nature Against

From my list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them.

Why am I passionate about this?

My greatest passion? Human nature and the endless cycles we repeat, different on the surface yet identical at their core. We build systems, cultures, and rules, destroy them, then rebuild everything in remarkably similar forms, as though we possessed no memory of the past. I have studied human nature throughout my life, but this passion took shape at university through cultural anthropology and comparative theology. Over thirty years, it has guided my work in developing human potential and talent, and has been refined further through working with thousands of people from more than 200 countries and territories. It is now the lens through which I write speculative fiction.

Delenda's book list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them

Delenda Carthago Why Delenda loves this book

This book gave me two pleasures: following its story and discovering how ingeniously that story had been assembled.

Its 127 short chapters sometimes contain little more than an idea, a joke, or a shift in perspective. At first, they require some patience. A few may seem disconnected or even unnecessary, but gradually they build upon one another like pieces of a mosaic.

Vonnegut leaves me room to assemble the whole, connecting science, religion, politics, and catastrophe without explaining every link. The form made me an active reader rather than a passive one. Its compression creates space for me to participate while allowing every absurdity to land with greater force.

By Kurt Vonnegut ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked Cat's Cradle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of America's greatest writers gives us his unique perspective on our fears of nuclear annihilation

Experiment.

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.

Solution.

Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding fathers of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to…


Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Delenda Carthago Author Of Nature Against

From my list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them.

Why am I passionate about this?

My greatest passion? Human nature and the endless cycles we repeat, different on the surface yet identical at their core. We build systems, cultures, and rules, destroy them, then rebuild everything in remarkably similar forms, as though we possessed no memory of the past. I have studied human nature throughout my life, but this passion took shape at university through cultural anthropology and comparative theology. Over thirty years, it has guided my work in developing human potential and talent, and has been refined further through working with thousands of people from more than 200 countries and territories. It is now the lens through which I write speculative fiction.

Delenda's book list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them

Delenda Carthago Why Delenda loves this book

Don't panic.

Science fiction can be hilarious without becoming merely ridiculous. It can bend the genre’s conventions without losing its way, and unleash its imagination while still taking sharp aim at human arrogance.

I read this book before it was widely recognized as a classic, and immediately loved its mixture of adventure, unforgettable characters, and jokes so brilliant that they became cultural touchstones around the world.

Most of all, I loved never being able to imagine what would happen on the next page. Few books offer the same combination of speed, adventure, unpredictability, and genuine laughter. Ever since I finished it, I have kept a small towel nearby, just in case the world ends.

By Douglas Adams ,

Why should I read it?

46 authors picked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This box set contains all five parts of the' trilogy of five' so you can listen to the complete tales of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Bebblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android! Travel through space, time and parallel universes with the only guide you'll ever need, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Read by Stephen Fry, actor, director, author and popular audiobook reader, and Martin Freeman, who played Arthur Dent in film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is well known as Tim in The Office.

The set also includes a bonus DVD Life, the Universe and…


If you love Stanislaw Lem...

Book cover of In the Fullness of Tion

In the Fullness of Tion by J.C. Gemmell,

In this collection of nine stories, J.C. Gemmell takes readers on a quest into the future.

Tion is a dystopian civilisation built on the wreckage of a drowned Earth. Here, technology saves and oppresses, and mankind clings to survival in a place where the privileged live above the clouds, and…

Book cover of The Fatal Eggs

Delenda Carthago Author Of Nature Against

From my list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them.

Why am I passionate about this?

My greatest passion? Human nature and the endless cycles we repeat, different on the surface yet identical at their core. We build systems, cultures, and rules, destroy them, then rebuild everything in remarkably similar forms, as though we possessed no memory of the past. I have studied human nature throughout my life, but this passion took shape at university through cultural anthropology and comparative theology. Over thirty years, it has guided my work in developing human potential and talent, and has been refined further through working with thousands of people from more than 200 countries and territories. It is now the lens through which I write speculative fiction.

Delenda's book list on how we build absurd societies and keep justifying them

Delenda Carthago Why Delenda loves this book

At first, I expected the monster to come from the eggs.

By the end, I realized that the real monster was already outside the shell: political pressure, media hysteria, and a blind bureaucracy convinced that policymaking can govern nature.

I found the novella imaginative, rich, and gripping, but its grotesque science-fiction catastrophe also felt connected to the politics I encounter every day. I often wonder how our foolish decisions (wars, pollution, disastrous policies) have not made us extinct already. Have we simply been lucky?

Bulgakov’s book is a wonderfully satirical adventure through 1920s Soviet Russia, yet much of it feels suspiciously like an ordinary visit to my local government office.

By Mikhail Bulgakov , Michael Karpelson (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Fatal Eggs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Only edition in print

Professor Persikov, an eccentric zoologist, stumbles upon a new light ray that accelerates growth and reproduction rates in living organisms. In the wake of a plague that has decimated the country's poultry stocks, Persikov's discovery is exploited as a means to correct the problem. As foreign agents, the state and the Soviet media all seize upon the red ray, matters get out of hand...

Set in 1928 but written four years earlier, during Stalin's rise to power, The Fatal Eggs is both an early piece of science fiction reminiscent of H.G. Wells and a biting, brilliant…


Book cover of The Nine Billion Names of God

Mario Barbatti Author Of One Billion Faces: Short Stories

From my list on where reality dissolves into strangeness and wonder.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was ten. Every Sunday morning, I sat in front of the TV with a notepad to take notes while watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. As a teen, I devoured every of Kafka’s books. The wonder of science and the strangeness of our existence have co-habited within me since then. Today, I’m a professional physicist and theoretical chemist. But I’m also a fiction writer. My fiction allows me to spill my science background into topics that wouldn’t be welcome in technical writing. For instance, wondering how life could re-emerge in the far future after all stars burned.

Mario's book list on where reality dissolves into strangeness and wonder

Mario Barbatti Why Mario loves this book

Hard science fiction, firmly based on scientific concepts, is a constant source of wonder. This classic collection—one of my first contacts with the genre maybe thirty-five years ago—is still one of my favorites! 

Since Clarke wrote these stories in the 1950s and 60s, science, technology, and the world have changed dramatically. But his writing aged well. The moral despair of the protagonist of The Star when he uncovers the relationship between a supernova's remains and humanity's history is timeless. The warning, “There is always a last time for everything,” at the closing of the tale The Nine Billion Names of God, still rings prophetic.

By Arthur C. Clarke ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Nine Billion Names of God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The invention of computers was a godsend to the obscure monks deep in the Himalayas. Their centuries-long project to write out all of God's names could be sped up by thousands of years. And only they had any clue what would come next!


Book cover of Weeds and Stars

Lucille Lang Day Author Of The Cosmos and Me

From my list on discovering your place in the universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

Starting in childhood, I wanted to know more about the universe and the creatures of Earth, and I often asked adults questions that they couldn’t answer. At age six, I started writing poetry to record my thoughts and observations. I had a turbulent adolescence marked by juvenile delinquency, marriage at age 14, and teen motherhood. Where does one go from there? Back to school! After finishing high school, I studied science in college, hoping to learn answers to some of those early questions. Ultimately, I earned a Ph.D. in science/mathematics education and also continued studying and writing poetry. The books on my list embody my enthusiasm for science and poetry. 

Lucille's book list on discovering your place in the universe

Lucille Lang Day Why Lucille loves this book

Lisa Rosenberg’s background as a physicist and space program engineer informs poems that probe the beauties and mysteries of existence.

I first encountered her work in 2022 when she read in the Virtual STEM Poetry Series sponsored by Farmingdale State College in New York. Her poems are vivid, juxtaposing biology and cosmology: “The aster blooms. The supernova cools.” They are also rich in sound repetitions (“blooms,” “cools”) and musicality.

In Weeds and Stars, Rosenberg both invents new poetic forms and makes existing ones—like the sonnet, prose poem, villanelle, pantoum, and cento—her own. Her book came out in 2026 and is therefore a relative, not an ancestor, of my own poetry. In fact, Rosenberg’s poems and mine share some common ancestors, including Robert Frost and Sylvia Plath. 

By Lisa Rosenberg ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Weeds and Stars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Poetry. The rhythmically grounded, formally varied poems of Lisa Rosenberg's second collection invite possibilities of kinship and transformation in the dichotomies that surround us, whether fantastic or ordinary, subatomic or cosmic in scale: odes to Pi and snowflake formation; meditations on urchins and orbital mechanics, and an interwoven series of uncanny prose poems for resilient plants. Weeds and Stars brings into deeper bloom what Robert Pinsky hailed in Rosenberg's debut: poetry "with an informed vision that is social as well as scientific, personal as well as historical." Weeds and Stars engages with the tropes and expectations of Western lyric poetry,…


Book cover of Eon

Mike Waller Author Of Falcon's Call

From my list on scifi humanity’s future in space and time.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I lived in a small valley sheltered from the night city lights. I could see the stars, and from that time, that is where my imagination dwelled. As a teenager, I read several of the books I have listed here, and from that point, I was inspired to read more and also to write myself. I sincerely believe that despite our current problems, humanity will outlive its troubled childhood and reach for the stars. We are destined for the stars, and only in the works of science fiction writers is that future explored. The books below helped me to become a successful author in my own right.

Mike's book list on scifi humanity’s future in space and time

Mike Waller Why Mike loves this book

The main thing that impressed me about this book was the sheer originality of the story. Greg Bear has created a world unlike any I have read. 

A giant asteroid appears above Earth and is hollow. Inside is a world beyond imagining, a world without end and a path to the future. I was inexorably drawn into the story from the very first page. I especially loved the way all of this is grounded in the very human characters and described in terms to which the reader can easily relate.

Bear is a master of descriptive writing, an author I cannot read enough of. Highly recommended.

By Greg Bear ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Eon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times–bestselling author of War Dogs: A novel that “may be the best constructed hard SF epic yet” (The Washington Post).
 
In a supernova flash, the asteroid arrived and entered Earth’s orbit. Three hundred kilometers in length, it is not solid rock but a series of hollowed-out chambers housing ancient, abandoned cities of human origin, a civilization named Thistledown. The people who lived there survived a nuclear holocaust that nearly rendered humanity extinct—more than a thousand years from now.
 
To prevent this future from coming to pass, theoretical mathematician Patricia Vasquez must explore Thistledown and…


Book cover of Last Day on Mars

Rebecca Thorne Author Of The Secrets of Star Whales

From my list on about loss.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a children’s novelist, I believe there’s nothing more important than showing kids it’s okay to experience emotion. Nothing is more powerful than watching someone rise to the occasion, and showing vulnerability in the process. Plus, middle-grade books are just fun—they let us create these fantastical ways to show very grounded, human needs. Rockets become friendships? Jellyfish offer understanding? Sign me up! It’s my pleasure to recommend these novels to kids everywhere (even the adult ones)!

Rebecca's book list on about loss

Rebecca Thorne Why Rebecca loves this book

Last Day on Mars was an absolute pleasure to recommend. Set on Mars, which is months away from destruction via a superheated sun, the final remnants of humanity are boarding a spaceship destined for an Earth-like planet far away. Have you ever run for the last flight in an airport? This whole book felt exactly like that—with a pair of main characters who had me shouting, “Hurry up! Get on the ship!!” With the loss of their solar system, their families, and maybe their lives, this science-fiction adventure is everything I love in a novel! 

By Kevin Emerson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Last Day on Mars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

“Last Day on Mars is thrillingly ambitious and imaginative. Like a lovechild of Gravity and The Martian, it's a rousing space opera for any age, meticulously researched and relentlessly paced, that balances action, science, humor, and most importantly, two compelling main characters in Liam and Phoebe. A fantastic start to an epic new series.” —Soman Chainani, New York Times bestselling author of the School for Good and Evil series

“Emerson's writing explodes off the page in this irresistible space adventure, filled with startling plot twists, diabolical aliens, and (my favorite!) courageous young heroes faced with an impossible task.” —Lisa McMann,…


Book cover of The Magic Furnace: The Search for the Origins of Atoms

Harry Cliff Author Of Space Oddities: The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe

From my list on the universe and our cosmic origins.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by science since I was a small child. I used to try to drag my parents up to London’s Natural History Museum to gawk at dinosaurs every other Sunday and remember the delight of seeing Saturn and its rings through a telescope from our back garden. I started reading popular science books as a teenager and they were a large part of what inspired me to ultimately become a physicist. I hope the books on this list will bring a bit of awe and wonder into your life!

Harry's book list on the universe and our cosmic origins

Harry Cliff Why Harry loves this book

I first read The Magic Furnace when I was a teenager thinking about what to study at university, and it left a deep impression on me. It tells the story of the search for the origin of atoms, tracing their origins from the lab out into space.

The way the narrative weaves the work of many scientists working over multiple generations as they piece together this amazing cosmic story is really inspiring.

By Marcus Chown ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Magic Furnace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Every breath you take contains atoms forged in the blistering furnaces deep inside stars. Every flower you pick contains atoms blasted into space by stellar explosions that blazed brighter than a billion suns." Thus begins The Magic Furnace, an eloquent, extraordinary account of how scientists unraveled the mystery of atoms, and helped to explain the dawn of life itself.
The historic search for atoms and their stellar origins is truly one of the greatest detective stories of science. In effect, it offers two epics intertwined: the birth of atoms in the Big Bang and the evolution of stars and how…


Book cover of The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank

Betty Adams Author Of I Have the Data

From my list on to laugh at the absurdity of human nature.

Why am I passionate about this?

Humans are absurd. We are. Short stories that present this in a true and honest fashion, without being cruel or vulgar are a rare and delicious gem. In all of these books there is not a single ounce of malice or bitterness. Humans are born, we live, we suffer, and then we die. These books don’t deny this, or ignore it, instead they choose to focus on the funny, the fun, the absurd lives that we live. 

Betty's book list on to laugh at the absurdity of human nature

Betty Adams Why Betty loves this book

Life happens. The septic tank overflows. Girls get in fights. Boys track dirt over your best carpet. You are absolutely going to ruin their lives with your attempt to explain the facts of life. Erma Bombeck takes these realities and laughs at them. You can’t help but laugh along with her from her tiny suburban home to her efforts to “forgive her enemies.”

By Erma Bombeck ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The “marvelously funny” and much-loved humorist explores the perils of suburban living in this New York Times bestseller (Vogue).
For years, the Bombecks have heard rumors of a magical land called Suburbia where the air is clean, the grass is trimmed, and children don’t risk getting mugged on their walk to school. After watching their friends flee the city for subdivided utopias like Bonaparte’s Retreat and Mortgage Mañana, Erma and her family load up their belongings and cry, “Station wagons . . . ho!” But life on the suburban frontier is not as perfect as they had hoped. The trees…


Book cover of Brave New World
Book cover of Cat's Cradle
Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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