I just read

(1) Roadside Picnic (the book which "Stalker" game is based from).

This was a page-turner! Fascinated by the science artifacts & effects (like gravitational glitches, frozen black sparks, etc)

(2) "Childhood's End" by Arthur C Clarke (who wrote 2001 Space Odyssey)

The sheer time scale of the story is impressive, and the technology is so interesting - especially for 1950s! There are some interesting time effects too (like an unborn child telepathically channeling information to a conversation in the past!)