Powered by a book like {foo}
Recommendations based on The Hippopotamusby Stephen Fry
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Making History
by Stephen Fry
An exploration of the past, present, and future, and the power of human choice.
The story is told in first person by Michael "Puppy" Young, a young history student at Cambridge University on the verge of completing his doctoral thesis on the early life of Adolf Hitler and his ... (Wikipedia)
The Liar
by Stephen Fry
A witty and charming young man, Adrian Healey, spins a web of lies that eventually catches up with him.
The book opens as the protagonist, Adrian Healey, and his mentor, Professor Donald Trefusis , are at Mozart 's birthplace in Salzburg , where Adrian witnesses the (staged) murder of their contact. ... (Wikipedia)
Carry On, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
A series of comedic stories filled with eccentric characters, witty banter and outrageous scenarios.
The titles of the first story in this collection—'Jeeves Takes Charge'— and the last—'Bertie Changes His Mind'—sum up the relationship of twentieth-century fiction's most famous comic characters. In ... (Goodreads)
My Man Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
A series of humorous adventures featuring a bumbling English gentleman and his ever-resourceful valet.
Who can forget our beloved gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, who ever comes to the rescue when the hapless Bertie Wooster falls into trouble. My Man Jeeves is sure to please anyone with a taste ... (Goodreads)
The Gun Seller
by Hugh Laurie
A former soldier turned accidental spy navigates a web of international intrigue and danger. Witty and action-packed.
The Gun Seller tells the story of retired Army officer Thomas Lang, who lives a somewhat hand-to-mouth existence in London , his attention focused mainly on drinking whisky and riding his motorcycle ... (Wikipedia)
The World According to Garp
by John Irving
A humorous and heart-wrenching journey of life, love and literature.
This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields—a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a ... (Goodreads)
Starter for Ten
by David Nicholls
Brian, a working-class student, navigates university life, love, and a quiz bowl competition in 1980s England.
The story, told in first-person narrative , is set in 1985 and chronicles the misadventures of student Brian Jackson in his first year at an unnamed university . A somewhat obsessive collector of ... (Wikipedia)
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins
A thrilling mystery of secrets and hidden identities, with a hero on a quest for the truth.
Walter Hartright, a young art teacher, encounters and gives directions to a mysterious and distressed woman dressed entirely in white, lost in London; he is later informed by policemen that she has ... (Wikipedia)
Possession
by A.S. Byatt
Two modern academics uncover a hidden romance between two Victorian poets.
Obscure scholar Roland Michell, researching in the London Library , discovers handwritten drafts of a letter by the eminent Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash, which lead him to suspect that the ... (Wikipedia)
Something Fresh
by P.G. Wodehouse
A comedic tale of mistaken identity and romance, as a young woman seeks independence.
Ashe Marson and his fellow lodger Joan Valentine discover that they both work as writers for the Mammoth Publishing Company . Joan urges Ashe to overcome his discontentment and take a fresh direction ... (Wikipedia)
Any Human Heart
by William Boyd
A man's life journey, chronicling his loves, losses, and adventures.
Logan Gonzago Mountstuart, writer, was born in 1906, and died of a heart attack on October 5, 1991, aged 85. William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome ... (Goodreads)
Death in the Clouds
by Agatha Christie
A deadly crime takes place in an airplane, and a famous detective solves the case.
Hercule Poirot travels back to England on the midday flight from Paris to Croydon Airport in London. He is one of eleven passengers in the plane's rear compartment. The others include: mystery writer ... (Wikipedia)
Red Dragon
by Thomas Harris
A serial killer stalks the night, and a former FBI agent is the only one who can stop him.
In 1975, Will Graham , a brilliant profiler of the FBI , captured the serial killer Hannibal Lecter . However, Graham suffered serious injuries from the encounter and retired afterwards. Four years ... (Wikipedia)
The Crow Road
by Iain Banks
A young man's journey of self-discovery and family secrets, set in Scotland.
This Bildungsroman is set in the fictional Argyll town of Gallanach (by its description, reminiscent of Oban but on the north east shore of Loch Crinan ), the real village of Lochgair , and in ... (Wikipedia)
Smilla's Sense of Snow
by Peter Høeg
An Arctic investigator's journey to uncover the truth behind a child's mysterious death.
Smilla Qaaviqaaq Jaspersen, 37-year-old product of the stormy union of a female Inuit hunter and a rich urban Danish physician, is a loner who struggles to live with her fractured heritage. Living ... (Wikipedia)
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
by David Eagleman
A collection of imaginative stories exploring life after death.
At once funny, wistful and unsettling, Sum is a dazzling exploration of unexpected afterlives—each presented as a vignette that offers a stunning lens through which to see ourselves in the here and ... (Goodreads)
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
A mysterious journey through a hidden realm of London, filled with danger and unexpected allies.
Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew and his trials and tribulations in London. At the start of the story, he is a young businessman, recently moved from Scotland and with a normal life ahead. ... (Wikipedia)
Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
A young boy confronts personal and social challenges as he navigates adolescence.
Jason Taylor is a 13-year-old with a stammer in the small village of Black Swan Green in Worcestershire . The first chapter starts with a rule Jason's father has: "Do not set foot in my office" and ... (Wikipedia)
Hannibal
by Thomas Harris
A psychological thriller about a renowned FBI agent and his pursuit of a dangerous serial killer.
Years after his escape, posing as scholarly Dr. Fell, curator of a grand family's palazzo, Hannibal lives the good life in Florence, playing lovely tunes by serial killer/composer Henry VIII and ... (Goodreads)
This is Where I Leave You
by Jonathan Tropper
A family comes together during a week of sitting shiva, rediscovering the joys of being a family.
A riotously funny, emotionally raw New York Times bestselling novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind—whether we like it or not. The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks ... (Goodreads)
The Big Four
by Agatha Christie
Detective Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders linked to an international crime syndicate.
Captain Arthur Hastings returns to England after an 18-month-long stay in Argentina . , He intends to visit his old friend Hercule Poirot and is shocked to find Poirot about to leave for South ... (Wikipedia)
Evil Under the Sun
by Agatha Christie
Detective Hercule Poirot investigates a murder on a resort island, uncovering secrets and lies.
Hercule Poirot takes a quiet holiday at a secluded hotel in Devon. He finds that the other hotel guests include: Arlena Marshall, her husband Kenneth, and her step-daughter Linda; Horace Blatt; Major ... (Wikipedia)
Fever Pitch
by Nick Hornby
A humorous memoir of a man's obsession with soccer and how it shapes his life and relationships.
In America, it is soccer. But in Great Britain, it is the real football. No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. And that's before the players even take the field. Nick Hornby has been a football fan ... (Goodreads)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.
The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)
Complicity
by Iain Banks
A man's investigation into a murder, exposing a web of government conspiracies.
Colley is a " Gonzo journalist " with an amphetamine habit, living in Edinburgh. He also smokes cigarettes and cannabis , drinks copious amounts of alcohol , plays computer games, and has adventurous ... (Wikipedia)
The Twelve Chairs
by Ilya Ilf
A comedic tale of two men's quest for hidden jewels in a chair with a secret compartment.
In the Soviet Union in 1927, a former Marshal of Nobility , Ippolit Matveyevich "Kisa" Vorobyaninov, works as the registrar of marriages and deaths in a sleepy provincial town. His mother-in-law ... (Wikipedia)
The Wasp Factory
by Iain Banks
A disturbed teenage boy discovers startling truths about his family and himself.
The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank lives with his father on a small island in rural Scotland , and he has not seen his mother in many years. There is no ... (Wikipedia)
Howards End
by E.M. Forster
Exploration of the societal divides in early 20th century England, and the consequences of class prejudice.
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. A strong-willed and intelligent woman refuses to allow the ... (Goodreads)
Jitterbug Perfume
by Tom Robbins
A journey through time and space, exploring the mysteries of life, death, and the pursuit of immortality.
A powerful and chiseled 8th-century king named Alobar narrowly escapes regicide at the hands of his own subjects, from a custom of killing the leader at the first sign of aging. After fleeing, no ... (Wikipedia)
