The History of the World in 10½ Chapters (Julian Barnes)
September 20, 2004

I suppose this is fiction, but with loosely-tied chapters about Noah's ark, the wreck of the Medusa, The Raft of the Medusa, the Titanic, and the voyage of the St. Louis, as well as meditations on the function of love between humans and what Heaven is like, it reads more like a series of unusual essays. Thought-provoking and serious, but funny and light at the same time.