What a good title. An alternative list. That's my kind of list. 

I've read some of the books on the list, so I would list them out. 

3. Beloved by Toni Morrison  

Read it long ago. And it is a literature kind of book. Good read but painful. As the characters in the story were going through so much internal emotional pain. So not an easy read. 

4. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

At first, I dislike it so much. How do the future world fall into the hands of religious fanatics so much that women were used for sex and breeding. But then, I found out that it is a warning for people to not let religious fanatics run the world according to religious rule. Look at ISIS and you know that this kind of came to reality. Good people tolerate religious craziness without challenging them out of politeness. But then when this religious ideas went unchallenged for so long to reach the point of harm, it is too late. 

6. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry 

A haunting book about poor in India. The cultural contexts imagined is so strange, and so based on mystery that you could not look away. 

7. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace 

Great book that make you think and rethink about human, individual. It is like watching a man go naked and revealing himself, with all his vulnerability. In the end, you kind of comprehend, and get to know the character. Good book. Highly recommended. 

8.Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Another good book. Short and thoughtful. If you like the TV series M.A.S.H., you would probably love this one. 

9.  The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien 

One great book about a world where good and defeat evil. Where nature being destroyed by industry could fight back. It is a good story and the language of the book is great. Unforgettable characters, complex story, good read.

10. I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan 

So happy this make the list. I have this book and I like it. It is a story about the devil. The devil is not the cardboard character that many books describe, but the devil has a mind and his psychology and philosophy. 

11. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

I love Harry Potter. Good story about a boy who lost his parents could grow up to become a a good person, a  sorcerer, a great friend. 

Book about magic, adventure and friendship. What's not to love?

12. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

This is on my to-read pile. I got it already somewhere but now it make it to the list. I think I would move this one up. 

I've read only three of these books--Ring of Endless Light, Hanging Out with Cici (now renamed My Mother was Never a Kid, and Have Space Suit Will Travel, but I love each of them enough that I still have my original copies on my bookshelf. Many of the rest of the ten sound great too. From the io9 website article:

Fans have been waiting over 20 years for a movie version of Lois Lowry's The Giver, and we're finally getting one this weekend. But this isn't the only classic novel that's overdue for a movie adaptation. Here are 10 beloved YA novels that would make for incredible movies... and why they probably won't get adapted.

A note: All of these books will be spoiled.

Link

While the cover might deceive you as some self-help, I’m at the bottom of my luck, whom do I turn too, religious guide, one turn of the book and you quickly will find that you just might have to read the synopsis twice to make sure you read it right. Yes, Seth Miller, thirty-two year old architect bachelor is quite contently living the good life in New York’s Greenwich Village. That is until his mother informs him he is the son of God and the coming of Christ. Crazy parents, an error in the Bible, a phone call from God who just wants to retire and carry out other business adventure with Lucifer, and before you know it, Seth is taking on this role just in time for the encroaching Armageddon. Accompanied by a talking cat, his best friend Bob Nancy, whose wife is named Nancy, a disciple named Maggie, and a guardian angel with a penchant for hood rap, and you have this off-beat and cynical story that you know could only have come from the mind of one man; Duncan Whitehead.

Read the Entire Review at Musing with Crayolakym

Ten Likes/Dislikes:

1. (+) Ava, the protagonist - Oh, Ava. From the very first pages I was intrigued because she was haughty about being so girl and I knew that wasn't going to last. I was also intrigued by her curiosity, her boldness despite the harsh society in which she lived. And this determination carries throughout the book. I said something similar of the main character in Tin Star, but I'll say it again: It's hard not to respect and admire a character who goes through such tough circumstances and comes out alive and well and able to take care of not only herself, but another dependent.

2. (+) World-building - What distinguishes Salvage from other literary science fiction novels with empowering themes is its very unique settings. From the rigid gender-oriented decks of the Parastrata and some of the less rigid decks of other ships to the floating, kind community of the Gyre to futuristic Mumbai, this book is like no other YA novel that I've read in terms of the scope of its settings. It's also very easy to imagine the different jobs that someone could have in the various societies. And if Duncan ever chose to expand on this universe, I certainly wouldn't complain. There's a lot of world-building here, and a lot more that could still come too because it's so well-developed.

3. (+) Plot - The plot is part romance as Ava blossoms into a young woman with sexual urges, feels ashamed of her own sexuality, but learns to accept it against everything that she's been taught; part transformation story as Ava goes from being so girl on her father's ship to being a wanted refuge to being a capable, hard-working girl who has to take care of herself and another; part survival story as Ava has to fend for herself without ever having been taught how to read or write or do work that's practical on Earth; part space opera as it's clear that the Parastrata is not an isolated merchant ship but a small part of a larger organization of ships engaged in colonial trade (and that this is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in terms of the world-building, if Duncan ever chose to expand on this world).

4. (+) Romance - What I, a romance junkie, liked most about the romance here was that it never interfered with who Ava was. It was always about choice, despite others trying to strip that from Ava. Even when the book does focus on romance, it doesn't take long for us to know the consequences - to feel that underlying tension - or realize what's looming on the horizon... and what romance is there is sweet and kind and tender.

5. (+) Discussion - This line says it all: "This is literary science fiction with a feminist twist, and it explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family." What first drew me to this novel was the comparison to Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, especially since I had never seen a teen novel refer to that work. This book has a beautiful empowering feel and plenty to discuss on the above topics... and privilege. Duncan expertly points out the differences in class among all the societies that she's created and it's all so very real.

6. (+/-) Explanation - This was just a small distraction I'd had while reading. I wanted to know how the Parastrata came to be so rigid in its gender roles and origin stories and the like - like how Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale talks of how the women basically woke up one day and their rights were taken away, and slowly but surely this terrifying society was built & reliance on baby-bearing born. Of course Ava's character was not in much of a position to know this information, but that doesn't mean that I as a reader wouldn't crave it. Especially with such a highly advanced world (colonies? The Earthen technology) and well developed settings. Also is there no governing society with laws to ensure that these kind of infringements happen? I mean, all the merchant ships - if they are transporting goods to colonies, wouldn't there be some regulation? And the other crewes recognize how strange Parastrata's very rigid patriarchal society is. Anyway, none of this took away my enjoyment of the novel.

7. (+) Characters - This book is mostly character-oriented story for Ava, and not the rest, but it does take the time to develop other characters. And despite the fact that it's about Ava growing from her starting point in a severely male-dominated society, very rigid gender roles and all, it is the female characters that rule the day in this book. (For me at least and I loved the different strengths Duncan portrayed in them.)

8. (+) Writing - Science fiction novels sometimes have dry, futuristic writing, but not so here. Alexandra Duncan does a fantastic job at incorporating sensual details. She's also invented some brilliant slang for the futuristic world that never seemed too much to me and was easy to understand from the get-go. Readers who are wary of dialects ought to try an excerpt of the novel to see if it works for them too.

9. (+/-) Pacing - The one thing that kept me from enjoying this novel as much as I could have was its slow pacing. There's always something happening, to be sure, like world-building and character building and etc. etc. But since so much happens to Ava in the course of the novel, and with many different societies to explore, I felt the 500 page weight as I was reading.

10. (+) The Cover - Admittedly, I think this cover could depict the book and its unique settings better, but then again, they're so unique, I can imagine how hard that would be... and this cover is gorgeous as it is. Very eye-catching, some sci-fi, and a tagline that works to show the book as a whole.

Such unique settings (Parastrata the ship, the Gyre, and futuristic Mumbai!) and SO MUCH TO DISCUSS. If you're a teacher, it'd be GREAT to give this novel to your kids. This is the sort of novel that I wish I'd read in high school. I'm definitely going to look out for more from this author. Wonderful literary science fiction that I'd recommend to fans of Matched, Tin Star, and Across the Universe among others.

On the audience: The feel of this book - literary, personal growth, empowering, mostly focused on MC - reminds me of the feel in Not a Drop to Drink - there might be some crossover crowd there, despite the different topics. The epic scope of the world, plus the multiple plot threads, reminds me of Tin Star. Ava's character growth - the emphasis on choice and free will too - and some bits of the romance reminds me of that freeing feel in Matched. Ava's struggle to learn how to fit in Earthen society, compared to the sheltered world she'd known, might appeal to fans of Under the Never Sky, with Aria's character arc. There are also the obvious comparisons to Across the Universeand Starglass. The Edelweiss page also suggested that Salvage fit fans of The Handmaid's Tale - which I count myself among - and I would mostly agree with that assertion... but the timelines are kind of switched -- Offred's past is Ava's future, and there's more focus on how things came to be that way in THT. Still the comparison rings true.