Exhalation

Exhalation by Ted Chiang, 350 pages

In this collection of short (and one long) stories, Chiang presents a wide range of thought-provoking tales, from the Middle Eastern-set first story examining the implications of communicating with your past or future self to the final story of the ethical complications of communicating with a version of yourself in a parallel universe. But they're not all about your self messing with your other self — other stories consider the role of Earth in the universe as created by God, the nature of digital pets/children in the wider world, and why we are so determined to search for intelligent life in outer space instead of right here on Earth. Without exception, these are fantastic stories and I'd recommend them to anyone.