Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline is a sequel that proves the age-old adage: lightning doesn’t strike twice, but disappointment sure can. If you were hoping for another nostalgic joyride through the pop culture wonderland of the ’80s, this book serves up a lukewarm rerun that makes you question why you ever cared in the first place.

The Fran Lebowitz Reader is a masterclass in deadpan wit, perfect for anyone who’d relish watching modern society get skewered with Fran’s unapologetic, razor-sharp prose.

Imagine being trapped at a party where the host won’t stop listing every single movie, video game, and cereal brand they loved in the ’80s. That’s Ready Player One in a nutshell—except the party lasts for 370 pages, and the nostalgia isn’t a casual mention; it’s the main course, dessert, and after-dinner drink.

Reading A Hero of Our Time is like being mesmerized by the world’s most magnetic, insufferable antihero—Pechorin will steal your attention, break your heart, and leave you wondering why you ever cared.

If you’re uneasy about your phone knowing you better than your best friend, Orwell’s 1984 will validate every paranoid thought—and then raise the stakes.

If you think foreign aid is about goodwill, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man will make you think twice—and then hand you the bill.