VAN NUYS- The Science Fiction Book Club of the Van Nuys Branch Library is excited to announce its Fall 2026 Reading List and an important announcement about the club’s future course.
On Sept 30, the club will be taking a closer look at a science fiction classic as readers will discuss H.G Wells “The Time Machine”. One of the first novels written in the early days of science fiction, a group of time travelers visit the distant future where society is segregated between two races.
Then on Oct 28, the book club will discuss noted sci-fi author Philip K. Dick’s novel “The Penultimate Truth”. In this dystopian novel of future America, people live underground like ants while the President hardly seems to age.
This novel is presented with funding help from the Friends of the Van Nuys Library Group. “I’m really interested in Philip K. Dick. He was a sensational author in the genre and an underrated writer to be certain. We’ve hosted three other PKD novels in the past and we’ve always managed to have good discussions. I’m very grateful for our Friends Group in that they are providing funding for this novel to our readers,” said Book Club Moderator John Tommasino.
Then on November 18, the club will host a discussion of author Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, another early science fiction novel.
“I’m hoping to contrast these early novels with more modern authors. At the time Wells and Verne were writing, science fiction was a new genre.” said Tommasino. Finally on Dec. 30, the group will be discussing Aldous Huxley’s classic “Brave New World”, a classic novel and one of the earliest dystopian novels.
Then starting in 2027, the club will no longer focus solely on the Science Fiction Genre. The club will become The World Literature Club with a broader range of titles and authors. The first novel, slated for Jan. 27, will be “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, a story set in Algeria about a man who commits a murder for no apparent reason.
“We’ve been focusing on Science Fiction since Sept. 2023. I feel it’s time to widen the scope of the club and host different authors from various cultures. We’ll still host Science Fiction novels from time to time but it will no longer be the sole focus of the club,” Tommasino said.