Recommendations based on We the Livingby Ayn Rand

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

  1. Atlas Shrugged

    by Ayn Rand
    A tale of a dystopian future where the strongest minds take control of society.

    This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Fountainhead

    by Ayn Rand
    A story of a brilliant architect who refuses to conform to the establishment, challenging the status quo.

    In early 1922, Howard Roark is expelled from the architecture department of the Stanton Institute of Technology because he has not adhered to the school's preference for historical convention in ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Anthem

    by Ayn Rand
    An individual's quest for freedom amidst a dystopian society determined to control thought and behavior.

    Equality 7-2521, a 21-year-old man writing by candlelight in a tunnel under the earth, tells the story of his life up to that point. He exclusively uses plural pronouns ("we", "our", "they") to refer ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Cyrano de Bergerac

    by Edmond Rostand
    A tale of unrequited love, an unlikely hero's journey for acceptance and admiration.

    Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac , a cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier) in the French Army , is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Brothers Karamazov

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.

    The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Master and Margarita

    by Mikhail Bulgakov
    A fantastical, satirical examination of Soviet life, intersecting with the supernatural.

    The novel has two settings. The first is Moscow during the 1930s, where Satan appears at Patriarch's Ponds as Professor Woland . He is accompanied by Koroviev, a grotesquely-dressed valet; Behemoth , ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

    by Jeffrey Archer
    Four strangers' desperate attempts to reclaim their stolen fortunes.

    The conned: an Oxford don, a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Man Who Laughs

    by Victor Hugo
    A man with a disfiguring facial deformity, who is sold into a life of suffering and exploitation.

    The novel is divided into two parts: La mer et la nuit ( The sea and the night ) and Par ordre du roi ( On the king's command ). In late 17th-century England, a homeless boy named Gwynplaine rescues ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Faith of the Fallen

    by Terry Goodkind
    A heroic struggle to protect the world from an ancient evil, using the power of faith.

    Faith of the Fallen begins where, Soul of the Fire, leaves off. Richard is taking Cara and injured Kahlan to the high mountains of his homeland, Westland. At the end of the Soul of the Fire Richard ... (Wikipedia)

  10. War and Peace

    by Leo Tolstoy
    Epic tale of war, peace, and love, focusing on the lives of five aristocratic families.

    The novel begins in July 1805 in Saint Petersburg , at a soirée given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer—the maid of honour and confidante to the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna . Many of the main characters ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Idiot

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A man's struggle to find his place in society, and the moral dilemmas he faces.

    Prince Myshkin, a young man in his mid-twenties and a descendant of one of the oldest Russian lines of nobility, is on a train to Saint Petersburg on a cold November morning. He is returning to ... (Wikipedia)

  12. 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)

  13. 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)

  14. Speaker for the Dead

    by Orson Scott Card
    A search for the truth about an alien species, uncovering secrets of the past.

    Now available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

    by Milan Kundera
    A story of love and loss in a politically turbulent Czechoslovakia.

    In The Unbearable Lightness of Being , Milan Kundera 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 ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    by Douglas Adams
    An eccentric space adventure filled with comedic misadventures and cosmic revelations.

    At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five novels from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker series. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a ... (Goodreads)

  17. Foundation and Earth

    by Isaac Asimov
    A journey through the galaxy to find the lost planet of humanity's origin. Along the way, they uncover secrets of the universe.

    Councilman Golan Trevize , historian Janov Pelorat , and Blissenobiarella of the planet Gaia (introduced in Foundation's Edge ) set out on a journey to find humanity's ancestral planet— Earth . The ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Foundation and Empire

    by Isaac Asimov
    A quest to save the Galactic Empire from destruction, featuring advanced science and politics.

    The first half of the book, titled "The General", tells how the enterprising General Bel Riose of the Galactic Empire launches an attack against the Foundation. The Empire still retains far more ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Stranger in a Strange Land

    by Robert A. Heinlein
    A human raised by Martians must find his place in a hostile Earth society.

    The story focuses on a human raised on Mars and his adaptation to and understanding of humans and their culture. It is set in a post- Third World War United States, where organized religions are ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Jonathan Livingston Seagull

    by Richard Bach
    An exploration of self-expression and personal growth as a seagull learns to defy the boundaries of his flock.

    The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself and learns everything he can about ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Marcovaldo

    by Italo Calvino
    A man's struggles to survive in a modern city, observing the beauty of nature amidst hardships.

    The Marcovaldo series depicts the life of a poor rural man with his family living in a big industrial city in northern Italy . The central character of Marcovaldo is an unskilled labourer for the ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Foundation's Edge

    by Isaac Asimov
    A quest to discover the truth behind the mysterious origins of the galactic empire.

    Five hundred years after the establishment of the Foundation, the Mayor of Terminus , Harla Branno , is basking in a political glow, her policies having been vindicated by the recent successful ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Love in the Time of Cholera

    by Gabriel García Márquez
    An epic love story spanning decades, exploring the power of true love.

    The main characters of the novel are Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. Florentino and Fermina fall in love in their youth. A secret relationship blossoms between the two with the help of Fermina's ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Journey to the Center of the Earth

    by Jules Verne
    Explorers embark on an incredible subterranean adventure, uncovering the secrets of a lost world.

    Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. The Maltese Falcon

    by Dashiell Hammett
    Detective Sam Spade must solve a mysterious case involving a precious artifact and a deadly trio of criminals.

    ‘Sam’ Spade is a private detective in San Francisco , in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful "Miss Wonderley" hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who has run off with her sister. Archer ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Blood of the Fold

    by Terry Goodkind
    Entangled in a power struggle between forces of good and evil, a man must use his newfound magical abilities to save the world.

    The story begins at the Palace of the Prophets where a funeral is being held for Nathan and Ann. Sister Verna and Warren, now freed from Rada'Han, are traveling with Richard to break down the barrier ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Franny and Zooey

    by J.D. Salinger
    A brother and sister's journey towards finding spiritual understanding and inner peace.

    The short story concerns Franny's weekend date with her collegiate boyfriend, Lane Coutell. Lane takes her to a fashionable lunch room, where Franny quickly becomes exasperated when he only appears ... (Wikipedia)

  28. We

    by Yevgeny Zamyatin
    A dystopian tale of a totalitarian state and its citizens' struggle for freedom.

    A few hundred years after the One State's conquest of the entire world, the spaceship Integral is being built in order to invade and conquer extraterrestrial planets. Meanwhile, the project's chief ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The Three Musketeers

    by Alexandre Dumas
    An adventurous tale of friendship, courage, and battle in 17th century France.

    In 1625 France, d'Artagnan leaves his family in Gascony and travels to Paris to join the Musketeers of the Guard . At a house in Meung-sur-Loire , an older man derides d'Artagnan's horse. Insulted, ... (Wikipedia)

  30. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)