Recommendations based on Luka and the Fire of Lifeby Salman Rushdie

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Haroun and the Sea of Stories

    by Salman Rushdie
    A fantastical journey to the depths of the imagination, reclaiming the power of storytelling.

    At the beginning of the story, protagonist Haroun Khalifa lives with his father Rashid, a famous storyteller and doctor, and his mother Soraya, until the latter is seduced by their neighbor 'Mr. ... (Wikipedia)

  2. The Enchantress of Florence

    by Salman Rushdie
    A fantastical tale of a mysterious woman from a distant city and her journey of finding her true identity.

    A tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that ... (Goodreads)

  3. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

    by Salman Rushdie
    A fantastical tale of a war between good and evil, set in a world where jinn and humans coexist.

    From one of the greatest writers of our time: the most spellbinding, entertaining, wildly imaginative novel of his great career, which blends history and myth with tremendous philosophical depth. A ... (Goodreads)

  4. East of Eden

    by John Steinbeck
    Exploration of the timeless struggle between good and evil, set against a backdrop of a family saga.

    In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas ... (Goodreads)

  5. The White Tiger

    by Aravind Adiga
    An exploration of the Indian class system, told from the perspective of a lower-caste man.

    The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Jungle Book

    by Rudyard Kipling
    A young boy is raised in the jungle by animals, learning life lessons along the way.
  7. Hag-Seed

    by Margaret Atwood
    A modern retelling of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" with a cast of unique characters.

    Hag-Seed follows the life of Felix, once experimental Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg theatre festival, now an exiled man who speaks to his daughter's ghost. Felix's fall from the theatrical ... (Wikipedia)

  8. On the Road

    by Jack Kerouac
    A young man's journey across America, seeking adventure and freedom.

    The two main characters of the book are the narrator, Sal Paradise, and his friend Dean Moriarty, much admired for his carefree attitude and sense of adventure, a free-spirited maverick eager to ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Palace Walk

    by Naguib Mahfouz
    An exploration of family life in Cairo during the 1920s, uncovering secrets and tensions in the everyday.

    al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad is the tyrannical head of his household, demanding total, unquestioning obedience from his wife, Amina, his sons, Yasin, Fahmy and Kamal, and his daughters, Khadija and ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Money

    by Martin Amis
    A satirical look at the power of money and the cut-throat world of 1980s high finance.

    Money tells the story of, and is narrated by, John Self, a successful director of adverts who is invited to New York City by Fielding Goodney, a film producer, to shoot his first film. Self is an ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Hound of the Baskervilles

    by Arthur Conan Doyle
    A thrilling detective story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate a mysterious murder on the moor.

    Dr James Mortimer calls on Sherlock Holmes in London for advice after his friend Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead in the yew alley of his manor on Dartmoor in Devon . The death was attributed ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Suite Française

    by Irène Némirovsky
    A story of love and loss set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied France.

    The first two stories of a masterwork once thought lost, written by a pre-WWII bestselling author who was deported to Auschwitz and died before her work could be completed. By the early l940s, when ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Time Machine

    by H.G. Wells
    A scientist travels through time, discovering the future of mankind.

    The book's protagonist is a Victorian English scientist and gentleman inventor living in Richmond , Surrey , identified by a narrator simply as the Time Traveller . Similarly, with but one exception ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Atonement

    by Ian McEwan
    A tale of the consequences of a child's mistake, and how its effects ripple through generations.

    Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old English girl with a talent for writing, lives at her family's country estate with her parents Jack and Emily Tallis. Her older sister Cecilia has recently graduated from ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

    by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Collection of mysteries solved by the brilliant detective, Sherlock Holmes.

    A study in scarlet – The sign of four -- Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : A scandal in Bohemia ; The red-headed league ; A case of identity ; The Boscombe Valley mystery ; The five orange pips ; The ... (Goodreads)

  16. Tell the Wolves I'm Home

    by Carol Rifka Brunt
    A young girl's journey of grief and healing as she discovers the secrets of her beloved uncle's life.

    June Elbus is a 14-year-old girl living in Westchester in 1986. She is in love with her gay uncle, Finn Weiss, a fact she is scared to admit even to herself. Finn is dying of AIDS. Being a ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Name of the Rose

    by Umberto Eco
    A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.

    In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

    by Emily Dickinson
    A compilation of Dickinson's poetic works, exploring themes of nature, mortality, and love.

    THE ONLY ONE-VOLUME EDITION CONTAINING ALL 1,775 OF EMILY DICKINSON’S POEMS Only eleven of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published prior to her death in 1886; the startling originality of her work ... (Goodreads)

  19. Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A collection of four works exploring the human psyche, morality, and existentialism through the lens of Russian society.

    The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg . He is contemplating the ridiculousness of his own life, and his recent realization that nothing matters to him any more. It ... (Wikipedia)

  20. A Game Of Thrones preview

    by George R.R. Martin
    A preview of the first book in the epic fantasy series, introducing the world of Westeros and its complex characters.

    This is a preview edition of A Game of Thrones , and contains only the opening chapters. This edition is NOT the entire book. ... (Goodreads)

  21. A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow

    by George R.R. Martin
    Epic fantasy saga of war, knights, and dragons.

    A Storm of Swords picks up the story slightly before the end of its predecessor, A Clash of Kings . The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are still in the grip of the War of the Five Kings , , wherein ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Far Side of the World

    by Patrick O'Brian
    A thrilling journey of naval warfare and exploration in the early 19th century.

    Aubrey meets Admiral Ives, now in Gibraltar, who is pleased with the last mission of HMS Surprise , despite Aubrey's negative report. Mr Yarrow will rephrase it to make the success clearer to the ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Sparrow

    by Mary Doria Russell
    A Jesuit mission to an alien planet ends in tragedy, raising questions about faith, morality, and the nature of God.

    In the year 2019, the SETI program at Arecibo Observatory discovers radio broadcasts of music from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri . The first expedition to Rakhat, the world that is sending the ... (Wikipedia)

  24. After Dark

    by Haruki Murakami
    A night in Tokyo filled with mysterious events and surreal encounters.

    Set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night, characters include Mari Asai, a 19-year-old student, who is spending the night reading in a Denny's . There she meets Takahashi Tetsuya, a ... (Wikipedia)

  25. The Year of the Flood

    by Margaret Atwood
    A dystopian tale of survival as humanity faces a new plague, and two women fight against a powerful corporation.

    The Year of the Flood details the events of, Oryx and Crake, from the perspective of the lower classes in the pleeblands , specifically the God's Gardeners. God's Gardeners are a religious sect that ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Sisters Brothers

    by Patrick deWitt
    A unique western, following two brothers on a quest to find and murder a prospector.

    In 1851, Eli and Charlie Sisters, a pair of assassins of minor repute, are hired by a wealthy businessman known only as "the Commodore" to travel from Oregon City to California in order to murder a ... (Wikipedia)

  27. What Alice Forgot

    by Liane Moriarty
    A woman wakes up with amnesia and must reconstruct her life, rediscovering truths hidden in her past.

    FROM THE #1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF, THE HUSBAND'S SECRET, AND, BIG LITTLE LIES,. A “cheerfully engaging”(,Kirkus Reviews,) novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get ... (Barnes & Noble)

  28. Inheritance

    by Christopher Paolini
    Epic fantasy adventure of a young man uncovering his destiny and the power of his inheritance.

    The Varden attack the Empire city of Belatona. In the battle, Saphira, Eragon's dragon, is nearly killed by a Dauthdaert, a spear from the Dragon Wars that can bypass magical wards and kill dragons. ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

    by Haruki Murakami
    A surreal exploration of two separate yet interwoven realities.

    The story is split between parallel narratives. The odd-numbered chapters take place in the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', although the phrase is not used anywhere in the text, only in page headers. The ... (Wikipedia)