The Truth, by Terry Pratchett

It's amazing how Pratchett has this way of taking an everyday normality in our lives and placing it in such vastly different circumstances that allows him to comment on said quotidian thing in a totally new light. He did it with banking and the postal service; "The Truth" is about newspapers, specifically, the notion of a free press. A heady theme, but in Pratchett's hands it's hilarious and exciting and totally accessible. I've said it before and I'm bound to say it again: I just love the British sense of humor (or humour, in a nod to Pratchett), and Pratchett's books are filled with it. Witty, clever turns of phrase pepper each page and make an already hilarious story that much more delightful. His books are a welcome respite of insanity in a field of all-too-often depressing contemporary fiction. Thank you, Mr. Pratchett, for making the literary world a little bit brighter by your presence.