Author: Victor Hugo Description: The french epic historical novel, considered one of the greatest works of the 19th century. Book length: Colossal (1400+ pages) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Miserables This is one of the most famous works of French literature and you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard about it. There are numerous adaptations, from movies to TV shows, to musicals. Some adaptations are good, some are questionable, but with so many…
Author: Viktor E. Frankl Description: Real life account of a Holocaust survivor. How people can find hope and reasons to live even in the most desperate circumstances. Book length: Short-Medium (~130 pages) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Introduction The question of meaning is one of the deepest we can ask. As a human it is difficult not to ask it and somehow answer it for yourself, with perspectives changing over time. I would say that our ideas and…
Author: Dava Sobel Description: A popular science book that tells the story of how a carpenter solved the biggest scientific mystery of his time, revolutionizing watchmaking and seafaring. Book length: Medium (~180 pages) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Introduction Have you ever heard the phrase ”When Hell freezes over”, ”When pigs fly” or ”Squaring the circle”? Probably yes. How about ”Discovering the longitude”? The last one you likely didn’t hear, but go back a few hundred years, and…
Author: Alexandre Dumas Description: The classic historical fiction novel which follows young D’Artagnan as he arrives in Paris to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Book length: Very Long (650+ pages) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ One for All, All for One Is there anyone who hasn’t heard about the Three Musketeers? It’s just so prominent in pop culture, and you would probably have a hard time finding someone who hasn’t watched at least one of the many…
Author: Liu Cixin Description: A science fiction series depicting humanity’s discovery of an alien civilization living on a planet surrounded with three stars orbiting each other in an unstable system. Book length: Book 1 – Long (400+ pages)Book 2 – Long (500+ pages)Book 3 – Very Long (700+ pages) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Remembrance of Earth’s Past Are you in the market for a new book trilogy to invest your time in? Then you’re in luck! Cixin…
Author: Michio Kaku, PhD Description: A popular science book about the search for a theory of everything: an all-encompassing theory that fully explains and links all aspects of the universe. It gives a historical background of big breakthroughs in physics that defined our civilization. Book length: Short – Medium Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Introduction Professor Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist and author of several popular science books. The God Equation is his latest book, published in…
Author: H. G. Wells Description: The classic time travel book. It features the iconic Eloi and Morlocks, two races from Earth’s future that are often referenced in pop culture. Book length: Short Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ It’s Time to Travel through Time Marty, we have to go back! Nope, that’s not the one we are talking about today. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells is often recognized as THE time travel story. It’s not the first…
Author: Agatha Christie Description: A murder mystery. Ten people are invited to a luxurious home on a small island. They soon realize they were invited for very different reasons than what they initially believed. Without a boat to go back to the mainland, and with their host not showing up, the situation in the house starts to complicate… Book length: Medium Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ And Then There Were Many Let’s just start with the title: this…
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky Description: Dostoevsky’s last and longest novel. The story revolves around three brothers, their different life philosophies, and a mysterious murder. Book length: Very long Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dostoevsky’s Magnum Opus? The Brothers Karamazov are often considered Dostoevsky’s greatest work. There are certainly a lot of aspects of this novel that speak in favor of this claim. Personally, I think Crime and Punishment is a better novel. However, if someone lists this as his…
Author: Ernest Hemingway Description: One of Hemingway’s last major works and also one of his most famous – the novella tells the story of an old fisherman and his encounter with a giant fish, after spending months fishing without any catch. Book length: Short Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ The Old Man…and the Sea What a fitting title indeed. The book is exactly that – it’s an old man struggling to catch a fish at sea. Most of…