In Maria Guardado’s latest San Francisco Giants newsletter for MLB.com, we learn that ace reliever Randy Rodríguez is a book worm.

Rodríguez recently read a Spanish translation of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and he is currently working his way through “The Baltimore Boys,” the second book of the Marcus Goldman series, a trilogy of mystery and suspense novels by the Swiss author Joël Dicker.

“I don’t like any specific genres,” Rodríguez said. “If someone recommends a book to me, I’ll read it. I like to read stories.”

Let’s consider this an invitation.

Randy, if you’re interested in mysteries, hopefully, you’ve already dug through Sherlock Holmes stories. There are also Agatha Christie books, and I must also plug my college screenwriting professor Lou Berney’s novels, including The Long and Faraway Gone. But that’s just riffing off your quote in the newsletter. If I dig a little deeper than off the top of my head, here are some books I think you should read at some point… if you haven’t already, because you seem very well read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

This is my favorite book, and it’s considered one of the greatest novels ever written. It’s a story of multigenerational family drama that uses magic realism to convey the passage of time, the joys and agonies of existence — being haunted by the past as we strive for a different future — and a message that says even if life repeats, the meaning is in its persistence. There’s beautiful writing on every page and it conjured up images, memories, and emotions in me like no other book has.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My second favorite book and Dickens’ most famous. Sure, it’s a story with the French Revolution as a backdrop that casts English people as the Good Guys, but the florid writing and sharply drawn characters make this an historical melodrama with a thematic punch. It’s a soap opera/telenovela/pulp story that doesn’t seem like it’ll hold your attention until it does.

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

Pre-1980s science fiction writing is its own sort of canon and sort of like American movies in the 1970s, it has been impossible to replicate since this period of time. Why would anyone want to? Well, there were simply masters at work during this era — the 50s, 60s, and 70s — who have rarely been topped and hardly equaled since then.

Le Guin is less predicting the future and more an artist of the present channeling indescribable fears into coherent images and words that create a tense, hellish future. I’m front-loading discussions about the quality of her writing because her stories don’t have straightforward descriptions sometimes. This story is simply really interesting but it’s one that could be very easy to describe wrong and scare you away. I think it’s a great book for a relief pitcher. Here are some YouTubers doing a solid job conveying the concept.

Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris

This is nonfiction and I’ve added it here because, well, you’re on a team in a city that’s adjacent to the cradle of our technofascist present and future. Today’s troubles and the tech company villains of our modern day crawled from Palo Alto’s primordial ooze. It’s quite a story Harris has written, with the added wrinkle that it’s true.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion Terry J. Erdmann with Paula M. Block

More nonfiction. I don’t know if you watch TV, Randy, or even know what Star Trek is, but Star Trek is a science fiction television franchise that has spawned numerous TV shows and movies. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the fourth Star Trek series and ran for 7 seasons (1993-1999).

Okay, look, this is a Giants site and I have no business mixing my Star Trek fandom with it. I’m sorry. But for any of you Star Trek fans out there, this out of print volume is like a bible, going through each episode via interviews and other production details to illustrate how this show got made. Perhaps it will spark a curiosity in television production. Or maybe the 1990s itself.

The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family by Matt Groening Edited by Ray Richmond

Essential nonfiction. There was a time when you couldn’t access a Simpsons joke with a simple internet search and so fans had to resort to a publication (or episodes they recorded off TV). If you want a crash course in modern American pop culture and memes, which newer generations are stilling riffing on or evolving, then you should start here, with what’s essentially a book of all the gags from the show’s first 8 seasons. Both a time capsule and essential guide to understanding the Millenials in your life.

A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants by Andrew Baggarly

Another in the crash course series, this will help catch you up to speed with the Giants’ championship era and it might garner even more glowing press coverage from that beat writer from The Athletic you see from time to time. If you want to capture what it felt like for the team to win that first championship, check this out.

The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black by Alex Pavlovic

Okay, this one hasn’t come out yet and is a bit more like extra credit. According to the description, this nonfiction book is a “thoughtful and engaging collection of essays [that capture] the astute fans’ history of the franchise, going beyond well-worn narratives of yesteryear to uncover the less-discussed moments, decisions, people, and settings that fostered the Giants’ distinctive identity.”

So, this is less about the championship era and more about the history and vibes of the franchise. If you want to get a better sense of the team you represent, this might be the book for you. Now, would it be a conflict of interest to read this and give Alex Pavlovic, the NBC Sports Bay Area beat reporter assigned to your team, a favorable review? Yes! But you said you were taking suggestions!

Readers, please chime in with your own list in the comments.