I remember the salt smoke from a beach fire
And shadows under the pines- 
Solid, clean… fixed-
Seagulls perched at the tip of land,
White upon green…
And a wind comes through the pines
To sway the shadows;
The seagulls spread their wings,
Lift
And fill the sky with screeches.
And I hear the wind
Blowing across the beach,
And the surf,
And I see that our fire
Has scorched the seaweed.
  • Dune is about as difficult a book as you are ever likely to encounter

    Gravity’s Rainbow would like a word.

    But on a more serious note, great list of suggestions. I’d add Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology called The Big Book of Science Fiction: The Ultimate Collection. It’s a great collection of both less and more widely known authors, including eg. a 1905 story by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain from what’s now Bangladesh. I personally liked the variety, and I trust Jeff VanderMeer’s taste