Small Country
Gaël Faye and Sarah Ardizzone
A coming-of-age story set in Burundi during the 1990s, following a young boy named Gabriel as his idyllic childhood is shattered by the eruption of civil war and the Rwandan genocide's spillover into his country.
The Thirty-Nine Steps
John Buchan
Richard Hannay finds himself on the run across Scotland after discovering a conspiracy to steal British military secrets and assassinate a foreign leader.
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen
A romantic novel of manners following two sisters with contrasting temperaments as they navigate love, family, and social expectations in Regency England.
Lords of Uncreation
Adrian Tchaikovsky
A science fiction novel exploring themes of creation, consciousness, and reality through speculative storytelling.
The Ghost
Robert Harris
A political thriller about a ghostwriter hired to write a former prime minister's memoir who uncovers dangerous secrets.
Stonemouth
Iain Banks
A man returns to his small Scottish hometown after a 20-year absence and becomes entangled in the violent politics and dark secrets of his past.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet
David Mitchell
A historical novel set in 18th-century Japan that follows a Dutch trader navigating the complexities of language, culture, and forbidden love on a trading post island.
Lost Horizon
James Hilton
A classic adventure novel about a hidden Himalayan utopia called Shangri-La and the Westerners who discover it.
Another Now
Yanis Varoufakis
A philosophical novel exploring alternative economic and political systems through a speculative narrative about parallel worlds.
Empire in Black and Gold
Adrian Tchaikovsky
A science fiction novel set in a far-future world where insectoid species and advanced technology shape an alien civilization.
Light of Impossible Stars
Gareth L. Powell
A science fiction novel exploring space exploration, advanced technology, and humanity's place in a vast, mysterious universe.
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
An epic tale of Captain Ahab's obsessive quest to hunt the white whale Moby Dick across the world's oceans.
Cage of Souls
Adrian Tchaikovsky
A science fiction novel set in a distant future where a prisoner navigates a mysterious, dangerous world.
The Hydrogen Sonata
Iain M. Banks
A science fiction novel set in the Culture universe exploring artificial intelligences and cosmic-scale conflicts.
The Odyssey
Homer
An ancient Greek epic poem following Odysseus's perilous ten-year journey home after the Trojan War, filled with encounters with mythological creatures and gods.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
A classic adventure novel about Edmond Dantès, who escapes from prison after being wrongfully imprisoned and seeks elaborate revenge against those who betrayed him.