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Recommendations based on Middle Englandby Jonathan Coe
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The Rotters' Club
by Jonathan Coe
A group of school friends navigating life's ups and downs during the 1970s in England.
Three teenage friends grow up in 1970s Britain watching their lives change as their world gets involved with IRA bombs, progressive and punk rock , girls and political strikes. In 2003, a four-part ... (Wikipedia)
What a Carve Up!
by Jonathan Coe
A satirical novel that explores the lives of the Winshaw family, a wealthy and corrupt British clan. Darkly humorous and politically charged.
Godfrey, son of the wealthy Matthew and Frances Winshaw of Yorkshire, is shot down by German anti-aircraft fire during a secret wartime mission over Berlin, on 30 November 1942. His sister Tabitha ... (Wikipedia)
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
A governess confronts her fears and doubts about a mysterious and sinister presence in her employer's home.
On Christmas Eve, an unnamed narrator and some of their friends are gathered around a fire. One of them, Douglas, reads a manuscript written by his sister's late governess . The manuscript tells the ... (Wikipedia)
Lady in the Lake
by Laura Lippman
A housewife-turned-journalist investigates the murder of a missing woman in 1960s Baltimore, uncovering secrets and corruption along the way.
A New York Times Bestseller The revered, New York Times, bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Wall
by John Lanchester
A dystopian novel set in a society where a wall separates the privileged from the excluded. A thought-provoking commentary on social inequality.
Shortlisted for the 2020 Orwell Prize, , "Thrilling…A topical and deftly satirical novel." —Anna Mundow,, Wall Street Journal, In this taut, dystopian tale, an island nation ravaged by the Change has ... (Barnes & Noble)
Sweet Sorrow
by David Nicholls
A bittersweet coming-of-age story about first love, loss, and the transformative power of Shakespeare.
One life-changing summer Charlie meets Fran... In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his ... (Goodreads)
Birthday Girl
by Haruki Murakami
A waitress's 20th birthday takes an unexpected turn when she meets an older man with a strange request.
In a frame story , a married woman with children recounts to her friend what happened on her twentieth birthday (the age of majority in Japan). The woman begins by saying she spent that day working ... (Wikipedia)
Dubliners
by James Joyce
Collection of stories about everyday life in Dublin, exploring the Irish psyche.
This work of art reflects life in Ireland at the turn of the last century, and by rejecting euphemism, reveals to the Irish their unromantic realities. Each of the 15 stories offers glimpses into the ... (Goodreads)
Batman: Hush, Vol. 1
by Jeph Loeb
Batman must face a mysterious enemy who knows his secrets and is manipulating him.
The story begins with Batman rescuing a boy kidnapped by Killer Croc when Catwoman steals the ransom money for the boy. As Batman swings through Gotham City in pursuit of her, his grapple is cut and ... (Wikipedia)
Under the Greenwood Tree
by Thomas Hardy
A romantic tale set in a small English village, where a young woman's heart is torn between two suitors.
The novel follows the activities of a group of west gallery musicians , the Mellstock parish choir, one of whom, Dick Dewy, becomes romantically entangled with a comely new village schoolmistress , ... (Wikipedia)
Mortal Causes
by Ian Rankin
Detective Rebus investigates a series of murders linked to the Scottish Nationalist movement. The case becomes personal as he delves deeper into the political underworld.
Set during the Edinburgh Festival , this novel starts with a brutally executed corpse being discovered in Mary King's Close , an ancient subterranean street. The body has a tattoo identified with ... (Wikipedia)
Golden Hill
by Francis Spufford
A stranger arrives in colonial New York with a bill worth a thousand pounds, causing a stir and raising suspicions.
In early November 1746 a traveller called Mr Smith arrives in New York, bringing with him a bill for £1000, which he takes to Mr Lovell, a local businessman, who reluctantly agrees to honour it ... (Wikipedia)
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
A brother and sister navigate their lives after being exiled from their childhood home, the opulent Dutch House.
New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 Named one of the Best Books of the ... (Barnes & Noble)
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)
The Red Notebook
by Antoine Laurain
An ordinary man discovers a lost notebook and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There's nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there's all sorts of other things in it. ... (Goodreads)
Even Dogs in the Wild
by Ian Rankin
Detective Rebus investigates a powerful politician's mysterious death and finds a tangled web of secrets and lies.
A former Scottish senior prosecutor has been found dead. Siobhan Clarke and a retired John Rebus are called on to investigate the prosecutor's death. , Meanwhile Malcolm Fox is drafted into a ... (Wikipedia)
Berserk, Vol. 2
by Kentaro Miura
Dark fantasy adventure of a lone swordsman's journey to take revenge on oppressive forces.
The evil Count uses his dark powers to transform a defeated guard captain into an inhuman horror to combat Guts, the Black Swordsman. Meanwhile, Guts' pint-sized elf sidekick, Puck, is captured and ... (Goodreads)
The House of Sleep
by Jonathan Coe
Exploring the lives of interconnected individuals as dreams and reality intertwine.
Like a surreal and highly caffeinated version of The Big Chill , Jonathan Coe's new novel follows four students who knew each other in college in the eighties. Sarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams ... (Goodreads)
Hide and Seek
by Ian Rankin
A detective investigates a series of murders while uncovering hidden secrets of the past.
A junkie lies dead in an Edinburgh squat. Just another dead addict, until John Rebus begins to chip away at the indifference, treachery, deceit and sleaze that lurk beneath the facade of the ... (Goodreads)
Kiss of the Spider Woman
by Manuel Puig
An unlikely friendship between two prisoners, exploring themes of sexuality, fantasy and politics.
Two prisoners, Luis Molina and Valentín Arregui, share a cell in a Buenos Aires prison. The story takes place between September 9, 1975 and October 8, 1975. , Molina, a transgender woman, is in jail ... (Wikipedia)
The Woodlanders
by Thomas Hardy
A tale of love, betrayal, and social class in rural England. Follows the story of a young woman torn between two men.
The story takes place in a small woodland village called Little Hintock, and concerns the efforts of an honest woodsman, Giles Winterborne, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. Although ... (Wikipedia)
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
by Heinrich Böll
A young woman's fight for justice against an oppressive media, and the consequences of civil disobedience.
Four days after a Weiberfastnacht 's eve party (Wed. 20 February 1974), where Katharina Blum met a man named Ludwig Götten, she calls on Oberkommissar Moeding and confesses to killing a journalist ... (Wikipedia)
The Buddha of Suburbia
by Hanif Kureishi
A coming-of-age story of a young man's journey to find acceptance and identity in a multicultural Britain.
The Buddha of Suburbia is said to be very autobiographical. It is about Karim, a mixed-race teenager, who is desperate to escape suburban South London and to have new experiences in London in the ... (Wikipedia)
Nostromo
by Joseph Conrad
A gripping tale of greed and political intrigue in a fictional South American country.
Nostromo is set in the South American country of Costaguana, and more specifically in that country's Occidental Province and its port city of Sulaco. Though Costaguana is a fictional nation, its ... (Wikipedia)
Death at La Fenice
by Donna Leon
A Venetian detective investigates a murder at the La Fenice opera house.
A world-famous German opera conductor has died at La Fenice , and Commissario (Detective) Guido Brunetti pursues what appears to be a murder investigation without leads. Leon, who completed a ... (Wikipedia)
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly
by Luis Sepúlveda
A charming story of a seagull and a cat who teach each other lessons of determination and resilience.
A cat. A seagull. An impossible task. A worldwide bestseller and the subject of a feature film, THE STORY OF A SEAGULL... is finally out in paperback! Her wings burdened by an oil slick, a seagull ... (Goodreads)
The Ghost Writer
by Philip Roth
A writer grapples with his identity, past, and future as he discovers love, loss, and a new beginning.
When talented young writer Nathan Zuckerman makes his pilgrimage to sit at the feet of his hero, the reclusive master of American Literature, E. I. Lonoff, he soon finds himself enmeshed in the great ... (Goodreads)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
by Ian Fleming
James Bond's mission to stop a criminal mastermind, complete with espionage, gadgets and action.
For more than a year, James Bond, British Secret Service operative 007, has been involved in "Operation Bedlam": trailing the private criminal organisation SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro ... (Wikipedia)
Days Without End
by Sebastian Barry
A young Irishman flees famine and war, finding love and a new family in the American West during the Indian and Civil Wars.
Thomas McNulty, aged barely seventeen and having fled the Great Famine in Ireland, signs up for the U.S. Army in the 1850s. With his brother in arms, John Cole, Thomas goes on to fight in the Indian ... (Goodreads)
The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
by Luis Sepúlveda
An old man's quest to find solace and peace in the stories he reads.
In a remote river town deep in the Ecuadoran jungle, Antonio José Bolívar seeks refuge in amorous novels. But tourists and opportunists are making inroads into the area, and the balance of nature is ... (Goodreads)
