Recommendations based on The Noise of Timeby Julian Barnes

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

  1. The Children Act

    by Ian McEwan
    A family court judge must make a difficult decision between the law and her conscience.

    Fiona Maye is a respected High Court Judge specialising in Family Law and living in Gray's Inn Square. While reviewing a case, she is approached by her husband, Jack, who tells her that because of ... (Wikipedia)

  2. The Sense of an Ending

    by Julian Barnes
    An exploration of memory and its impact on the present, looking at the choices we make in life.

    By an acclaimed writer at the height of his powers, The Sense of an Ending extends a streak of extraordinary books that began with the best-selling Arthur & George and continued with Nothing to Be ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Only Story

    by Julian Barnes
    A love story between a young man and an older woman, exploring the complexities of relationships and the impact of memory on love.

    The short (273 pp.) novel is the life story of Paul Roberts, who we first meet as a 19-year-old Sussex University undergraduate returning to his parents' house in the leafy southern suburbs of London ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Gustav Sonata

    by Rose Tremain
    A tale of two friends in Switzerland, spanning over 70 years, exploring the complexities of friendship, love, and betrayal.

    Winner of the 2016 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction, , A poignant tale about the enduring friendship between two men under the shadow of the Second World War., Gustav Perle grows up in a small ... (Barnes & Noble)

  5. The Innocent

    by Ian McEwan
    A young British man in post-WWII Berlin gets caught up in a web of espionage and betrayal.

    Leonard Marnham is "The Innocent" of the novel, a Post Office engineer who is employed by the Americans to install monitoring equipment in the tunnel they are building specifically to tap the ... (Wikipedia)

  6. On Chesil Beach

    by Ian McEwan
    A young couple's journey through a difficult, yet passionate, wedding night.

    In July 1962, Edward Mayhew, a graduate student of history, and Florence Ponting, a violinist of a string quartet, have just been married and are spending their honeymoon in a small hotel on the ... (Wikipedia)

  7. A History of the World in 10½ Chapters

    by Julian Barnes
    A collection of stories that explore the history of the world, from Noah's Ark to modern-day art theft.

    Chapter 1, "The Stowaway" , is an alternative account of the story of Noah's Ark from the point of view of the woodworms, who were not allowed onboard and were stowaways during the journey. Chapter ... (Wikipedia)

  8. An Officer and a Spy

    by Robert Harris
    A story of espionage and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Dreyfus Affair.

    Upon being promoted to run the Statistical Section , the top secret headquarters of French military intelligence, Georges Picquart begins to discover that the evidence used to convict Alfred Dreyfus ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Chess Story

    by Stefan Zweig
    A chess master's attempt to regain his lost skill, and the psychological battle he faces.

    The narrator opens the story on a passenger liner traveling from New York to Buenos Aires. Driven to mental anguish as the result of total isolation by the Nazis , Dr B, a securities expert hiding ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Stoner

    by John Williams
    An academic's life of quiet desperation, finding solace in literature.

    William Stoner is born on a small farm in 1891. After high school, the county agent advises he go to agriculture school. Stoner enrolls in the University of Missouri , where all agriculture students ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Mothering Sunday

    by Graham Swift
    A young woman's emotional journey of self-discovery as she grapples with a tragic secret.

    A luminous, intensely moving tale that begins with a secret lovers' assignation in the spring of 1924, then unfolds to reveal the whole of a remarkable life. Twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild has ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Castle

    by Franz Kafka
    Townspeople's surreal struggle against a mysterious ruling power.

    The protagonist, K., arrives in a village governed by a mysterious bureaucracy operating in a nearby castle. When seeking shelter at the town inn, he claims to be a land surveyor summoned by the ... (Wikipedia)

  13. 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)

  14. The Rings of Saturn

    by W.G. Sebald
    An exploration of the physical and metaphysical landscapes of the English coast.

    The Rings of Saturn — with its curious archive of photographs — records a walking tour along the east coast of England. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator (who both is ... (Goodreads)

  15. Pompeii

    by Robert Harris
    A thrilling historical fiction novel set in Pompeii, leading up to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

    Marcus Attilius Primus arrives in the Bay of Naples from Rome to take charge as aquarius ( hydraulic engineer ) of the Aqua Augusta , the aqueduct that supplies water to the towns in the region ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Americanah

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.

    Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)

  17. The Story of a New Name

    by Elena Ferrante
    Two young women's search for identity and independence in a patriarchal society.

    In 2012, Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend introduced readers to the unforgettable Elena and Lila, whose lifelong friendship provides the backbone for the Neapolitan Novels. The Story of a New ... (Goodreads)

  18. Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War

    by Sebastian Faulks
    A poignant love story set during World War I, exploring the impact of war on human relationships and the human psyche.

    Birdsong has an episodic structure, and is split into seven sections which move between three different periods of time before, during and after the war in the Stephen Wraysford plot, and three ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Secret History

    by Donna Tartt
    A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.

    Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)

  20. Baltasar and Blimunda

    by José Saramago
    A forbidden love story set against the backdrop of 1700s Portugal and its Inquisition.

    From the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, a “brilliant...enchanting novel” (New York Times Book Review) of romance, deceit, religion, and magic set in eighteenth-century Portugal at ... (Goodreads)

  21. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd

    by Alan Bradley
    Amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce uses her ingenuity and chemistry skills to solve a murder mystery.

    In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada, twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is excited to be sailing home to England. But instead of a joyous homecoming, she is greeted on ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Sound of Things Falling

    by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
    An exploration of the history and consequences of the drug trade in Colombia.

    Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been hailed not only as one of South America’s greatest literary stars, but also as one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. In this gorgeously wrought, ... (Goodreads)

  23. My Name Is Lucy Barton

    by Elizabeth Strout
    A woman's journey of self-reflection, uncovering secrets from her past.

    Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront ... (Goodreads)

  24. Vinegar Girl

    by Anne Tyler
    A retelling of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" set in modern day Baltimore.

    Pulitzer Prize winner and American master Anne Tyler brings us an inspired, witty and irresistible contemporary take on one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. Kate Battista feels stuck. How did ... (Goodreads)

  25. His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae

    by Graeme Macrae Burnet
    Historical fiction on a haunting trial of a young man accused of a triple murder.

    Man Booker Prize Finalist., LA Times, Book Prize Finalist., New York Times, Editor’s Choice. American Booksellers Association National Indie Bestseller! Named on “Best Book” lists by, Newsweek,, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. The People in the Trees

    by Hanya Yanagihara
    A scientist's rise to fame and fall from grace, after discovering a mysterious tribe on a remote island.

    In the late 1990s Dr. Ronald Kubodera, a colleague of Nobel Laureate Dr. Abraham Norton Perina, mourns Norton's downfall after being convicted of sexually abusing his own children . Kubodera ... (Wikipedia)

  27. All Quiet on the Western Front

    by Erich Maria Remarque
    A soldier's harrowing experience of the horrors of war.

    The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I . The patriotic speeches of his teacher Kantorek had led the whole class to ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Cronopios and Famas

    by Julio Cortázar
    A surrealist collection of short stories, exploring the absurdities of the world.

    "The Instruction Manual," the first chapter, is an absurd assortment of tasks and items dissected in an instruction-manual format. "Unusual Occupations," the second chapter, describes the obsessions ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Summer Book

    by Tove Jansson
    A grandmother and her granddaughter explore a remote summer island together, learning about life, love, and nature.

    An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. Gradually, the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and ... (Goodreads)

  30. Daddy-Long-Legs

    by Jean Webster
    A young girl's coming-of-age story, learning to navigate the world of adulthood.

    Jerusha Abbott was brought up at the John Grier Home, an old-fashioned orphanage . The children were completely dependent on charity and had to wear other people's cast-off clothes. Jerusha's unusual ... (Wikipedia)