Alternate Realities

So apparently I am a fan of alternate reality fiction. Is it the fact that I'm not pleased with reality as it is, or that I see what it could be, or what I wish it would be? Some of my favorite alternate reality novels include: The Giver by Lois Lowry, Gate to Women's Country by Sherry Tepper, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I guess some would actually consider some of these more as sci-fi than alternate reality, but isn't that what sci-fi is for us now? I enjoy how these novels comment on current societal trends and what's wrong with them, yet how the simple solutions people think would work, wouldn't. People really need to think things through before the start a "solution".