THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE, by Louise Erdrich

The book is the strange story of a farm woman who by chance takes on the role of a country priest, Father Damian Modeste, in a Native American Objiwa reservation in North Dakota in 1912. Erdrich won the National Book Critics' Circle Award for the novel. Much of the book chronicles her amazing yet sincere role play. The other aspect of the plot is her investigation into purportedly miraculous occurances that might lead to the cannonization of a local nun, sister Leopolda,  that had taken place in the previous century. The "miracles" plotline moves in unexpected and interesting directions. The story's chronology is complex and shifts back and forth over a century. It's a book of great beauty that highlights the complex struggle to understand "truth".

click here for a review of the book from NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/04/08/reviews/010408.08klinket.html

IDORU, by William Gibson

Considering that the book was written in 1996, William Gibson has created a surprisingly believable SciFi cyberworld set in "the not too distant future" 21st century Tokyo. The storyline is rather strange but somehow makes sense in the world Gibson has created. It traces the unconnected efforts of two characters, 13 year-old music fan Chia Pet McKenzie, and 40-something IT dataminer  Langley as they investigate reports that rock icon Rez intends to "marry" an "idoru" or complex computer program which uses AI beyond any previous incarnation. The two investigators' paths intersect during the latter part of the book in unexpected ways. Gibson creates a vivid and imaginative world in which the complex cyber reality is only slightly stranger than "real life" brick and mortar Tokyo.

Click here for a review of the book from Project Cyberpunk: http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/idoru.html