The Story Inside - Reading List.
This is my to-read list for thestoryinside, grouped by the themes used by the community. One book can be in multiple groups. Hopefully this will help my book buddies in choosing their books for me.
thriller: mystery, crime, suspense, police procedurals
♂️ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time / Mark Haddon / "Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. One day, a neighbor's dog is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes."
♂️ A Keeper / Graham Norton / "When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life."
♂️ We Need to Talk About Kevin / Lionel Shriver / "Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday."
♂️ Red Dragon / Thomas Harris / "Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help."
♂️ Misery / Stephen King / "Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house."
♂️ American Psycho / Bret Easton Ellis / "Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath."
♂️ Rivers of London / Ben Aaronovitch / "Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny."
♂️ The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman / "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club."
horror: paranormal, ghost
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♂️ We Need to Talk About Kevin / Lionel Shriver / "Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday."
♂️ Red Dragon / Thomas Harris / "Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help."
♂️ Misery / Stephen King / "Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house."
fantasy: dystopian, utopian, magical realism, supernatural, fairytale, folklore, mythology
♀️ The Night Circus / Erin Morgenstern / "The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements."
♂️ Rivers of London / Ben Aaronovitch / "Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny."
sci-fi: space, futuristic, steampunk
nonfiction
♂️ Rimbaud: A Biography / Graham Robb / "Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture."
♂️ Moab Is My Washpot / Stephen Fry / "Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir."
♂️ Goed. En waar schuilden de Rechtvaardige Rechters? / Christian Stickx / "A theory around the theft and possible hiding spot of one of the panels of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Ghent altarpiece."
♂️ Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup / John Carreyrou / "The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup"
romance: erotica, new adult
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♀️ The Night Circus / Erin Morgenstern / "The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements."
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♀️ Train to Trieste / Domnica Radulescu / "An incandescent love story-a thrilling debut novel-that moves from Romania to America, from the Carpathian Mountains to Chicago, from totalitarianism to freedom, and from passionate infatuation to profound understanding."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♀️ The Other Bennet Sister / Janice Hadlow / "Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own."
classics
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
movie/tv adaptation
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♂️ The Queen's Gambit / Walter Tevis / "Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess."
♂️ American Psycho / Bret Easton Ellis / "Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
lgbt theme
♂️ Rimbaud: A Biography / Graham Robb / "Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture."
♂️ Moab Is My Washpot / Stephen Fry / "Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir."
♀️ Memoirs of Hadrian / Marguerite Yourcenar / "Marguerite Yourcenar reimagines the Emperor Hadrian's arduous boyhood, his triumphs and reversals, and finally, as emperor, his gradual reordering of a war-torn world."
♀️ The Mask of Apollo / Mary Renault / "The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience."
♀️ Girl, Woman, Other / Bernardine Evaristo / "The book follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years."
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
historical fiction
♂️ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet / David Mitchell / "Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has five years in the Dejima, Japan to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland."
♀️ Memoirs of Hadrian / Marguerite Yourcenar / "Marguerite Yourcenar reimagines the Emperor Hadrian's arduous boyhood, his triumphs and reversals, and finally, as emperor, his gradual reordering of a war-torn world."
♀️ Train to Trieste / Domnica Radulescu / "An incandescent love story-a thrilling debut novel-that moves from Romania to America, from the Carpathian Mountains to Chicago, from totalitarianism to freedom, and from passionate infatuation to profound understanding."
♀️ The Mask of Apollo / Mary Renault / "The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience."
♂️ Past Imperfect / Julian Fellowes / "Damian Baxter is hugely wealthy and dying. He has but one concern-his fortune in excess of 500 million pounds, and who should inherit it on his death."
♂️ De Opgang / Stefan Hertmans / "The true story of a Flemish collaborator from Ghent and his family before, during and after World War II."
♂️ The Queen's Gambit / Walter Tevis / "Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
♂️ Rules of Civility / Amor Towles / "In 1930's New York, a typist gets drawn into the city's social elite."
♀️ The Other Bennet Sister / Janice Hadlow / "Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own."
♀️ The Improbability of Love / Hannah Rotschild / "A lovelorn London woman buys a painting in a junk shop, which turns out to be a lost 18th century masterpiece."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
contemporary: family saga, women's fiction, literary fiction
♂️ Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer / "When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, nine-year-old Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet."
♂️ The Eight Mountains / Paolo Cognetti / "While on vacation at the foot of the mountains, Pietro meets Bruno, an adventurous, spirited local boy. Together they spend many summers exploring the mountain's meadows and peaks and discover the similarities and differences in their lives, their backgrounds, and their futures."
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♂️ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet / David Mitchell / "Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has five years in the Dejima, Japan to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland."
♀️ Postcards from the Edge / Carrie Fisher / "The plot centers on a 30-year-old actress named Suzanne Vale, and follows her challenges as she overcomes her drug addiction, gets back into the swing of things, and falls in love, sort of."
♂️ Lang Weekend / Walter van den Broeck / "Things are not going well for the young office clerk Hector De Waegenmaeckere. He takes three days' holiday, which he spends with his parents in a Flemish provincial town. But that's where everything goes wrong."
♂️ A Keeper / Graham Norton / "When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life."
♀️ Girl, Woman, Other / Bernardine Evaristo / "The book follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years."
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♀️ The Improbability of Love / Hannah Rotschild / "A lovelorn London woman buys a painting in a junk shop, which turns out to be a lost 18th century masterpiece."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
♂️ The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman / "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club."
thriller: mystery, crime, suspense, police procedurals
♂️ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time / Mark Haddon / "Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. One day, a neighbor's dog is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes."
♂️ A Keeper / Graham Norton / "When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life."
♂️ We Need to Talk About Kevin / Lionel Shriver / "Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday."
♂️ Red Dragon / Thomas Harris / "Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help."
♂️ Misery / Stephen King / "Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house."
♂️ American Psycho / Bret Easton Ellis / "Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath."
♂️ Rivers of London / Ben Aaronovitch / "Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny."
♂️ The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman / "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club."
horror: paranormal, ghost
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♂️ We Need to Talk About Kevin / Lionel Shriver / "Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday."
♂️ Red Dragon / Thomas Harris / "Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help."
♂️ Misery / Stephen King / "Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house."
fantasy: dystopian, utopian, magical realism, supernatural, fairytale, folklore, mythology
♀️ The Night Circus / Erin Morgenstern / "The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements."
♂️ Rivers of London / Ben Aaronovitch / "Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny."
sci-fi: space, futuristic, steampunk
nonfiction
♂️ Rimbaud: A Biography / Graham Robb / "Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture."
♂️ Moab Is My Washpot / Stephen Fry / "Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir."
♂️ Goed. En waar schuilden de Rechtvaardige Rechters? / Christian Stickx / "A theory around the theft and possible hiding spot of one of the panels of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Ghent altarpiece."
♂️ Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup / John Carreyrou / "The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup"
romance: erotica, new adult
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♀️ The Night Circus / Erin Morgenstern / "The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements."
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♀️ Train to Trieste / Domnica Radulescu / "An incandescent love story-a thrilling debut novel-that moves from Romania to America, from the Carpathian Mountains to Chicago, from totalitarianism to freedom, and from passionate infatuation to profound understanding."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♀️ The Other Bennet Sister / Janice Hadlow / "Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own."
classics
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
movie/tv adaptation
♂️ The Phantom of the Opera / Gaston Leroux / "The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster."
♂️ The Queen's Gambit / Walter Tevis / "Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess."
♂️ American Psycho / Bret Easton Ellis / "Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
lgbt theme
♂️ Rimbaud: A Biography / Graham Robb / "Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture."
♂️ Moab Is My Washpot / Stephen Fry / "Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir."
♀️ Memoirs of Hadrian / Marguerite Yourcenar / "Marguerite Yourcenar reimagines the Emperor Hadrian's arduous boyhood, his triumphs and reversals, and finally, as emperor, his gradual reordering of a war-torn world."
♀️ The Mask of Apollo / Mary Renault / "The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience."
♀️ Girl, Woman, Other / Bernardine Evaristo / "The book follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years."
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
historical fiction
♂️ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet / David Mitchell / "Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has five years in the Dejima, Japan to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland."
♀️ Memoirs of Hadrian / Marguerite Yourcenar / "Marguerite Yourcenar reimagines the Emperor Hadrian's arduous boyhood, his triumphs and reversals, and finally, as emperor, his gradual reordering of a war-torn world."
♀️ Train to Trieste / Domnica Radulescu / "An incandescent love story-a thrilling debut novel-that moves from Romania to America, from the Carpathian Mountains to Chicago, from totalitarianism to freedom, and from passionate infatuation to profound understanding."
♀️ The Mask of Apollo / Mary Renault / "The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience."
♂️ Past Imperfect / Julian Fellowes / "Damian Baxter is hugely wealthy and dying. He has but one concern-his fortune in excess of 500 million pounds, and who should inherit it on his death."
♂️ De Opgang / Stefan Hertmans / "The true story of a Flemish collaborator from Ghent and his family before, during and after World War II."
♂️ The Queen's Gambit / Walter Tevis / "Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess."
♀️ The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1) / Julia Quinn / "By all accounts, Simon Basset is on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s sister, the lovely-and almost-on-the-shelf-Daphne Bridgerton. But the two of them know the truth-it’s all an elaborate sham"
♂️ Rules of Civility / Amor Towles / "In 1930's New York, a typist gets drawn into the city's social elite."
♀️ The Other Bennet Sister / Janice Hadlow / "Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own."
♀️ The Improbability of Love / Hannah Rotschild / "A lovelorn London woman buys a painting in a junk shop, which turns out to be a lost 18th century masterpiece."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
contemporary: family saga, women's fiction, literary fiction
♂️ Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Jonathan Safran Foer / "When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, nine-year-old Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet."
♂️ The Eight Mountains / Paolo Cognetti / "While on vacation at the foot of the mountains, Pietro meets Bruno, an adventurous, spirited local boy. Together they spend many summers exploring the mountain's meadows and peaks and discover the similarities and differences in their lives, their backgrounds, and their futures."
♂️ The Unbearable Lightness of Being / Milan Kundera / "It tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover."
♂️ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet / David Mitchell / "Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has five years in the Dejima, Japan to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland."
♀️ Postcards from the Edge / Carrie Fisher / "The plot centers on a 30-year-old actress named Suzanne Vale, and follows her challenges as she overcomes her drug addiction, gets back into the swing of things, and falls in love, sort of."
♂️ Lang Weekend / Walter van den Broeck / "Things are not going well for the young office clerk Hector De Waegenmaeckere. He takes three days' holiday, which he spends with his parents in a Flemish provincial town. But that's where everything goes wrong."
♂️ A Keeper / Graham Norton / "When Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother’s death, she’s focused only on saying goodbye to that dark and dismal part of her life."
♀️ Girl, Woman, Other / Bernardine Evaristo / "The book follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years."
♀️ Red, White & Royal Blue / Casey McQuiston / "A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends..."
♀️ The Improbability of Love / Hannah Rotschild / "A lovelorn London woman buys a painting in a junk shop, which turns out to be a lost 18th century masterpiece."
♂️ The Great Believers / Rebecca Makai / "Intertwining storylines about a group of friends at the start of the AIDS crisis, and one of their sisters looking for her estranged daughter who has joined a cult."
♂️ The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman / "In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club."