Recommendations based on Capitalby John Lanchester

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

  1. Bring Up the Bodies

    by Hilary Mantel
    A gripping historical drama recounting the downfall of Anne Boleyn during the reign of Henry VIII.

    Bring Up the Bodies follows closely upon the events of Wolf Hall . The King and Cromwell —now Master Secretary to the King's Privy Council—are guests of the Seymour family at Wolf Hall. The King ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Wolf Hall

    by Hilary Mantel
    A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.

    England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Slap

    by Christos Tsiolkas
    A family gathering gone wrong, revealing secrets and sparking intense emotions.

    At a barbecue in suburban Melbourne , a man slaps a 3-year-old boy across the face. The child, Hugo, has been misbehaving without any intervention by his parents, "the steely-eyed Rosie and the ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Fear Index

    by Robert Harris
    A hedge fund manager's AI system goes rogue, causing chaos and threatening his sanity. A thrilling exploration of the dangers of technology.

    The story begins as Physicist Dr. Alexander Hoffmann, an American expat living in Switzerland , and the founder of his eponymous hedge fund , receives a first edition copy of The Expression of the ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Imperfectionists

    by Tom Rachman
    A story of interconnected lives, exploring the fragility of human relationships.

    Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Tom Rachman’s wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English language ... (Goodreads)

  6. Freedom

    by Jonathan Franzen
    A family saga revealing the struggles of a divided nation, and the power of love to heal.

    The novel opens with a brief look at the Berglund family during their time living in St. Paul, Minnesota , from the perspective of their nosy neighbors. The Berglunds are portrayed as an ideal ... (Wikipedia)

  7. A Delicate Truth

    by John le Carré
    A covert counter-terrorist operation goes wrong, leading to a cover-up that threatens to expose the truth.

    In 2008, Toby Bell, the Private Secretary to junior Foreign Office minister Fergus Quinn, becomes suspicious of his superior's behavior following a meeting with businessman Jay Crispin—founder of the ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Elizabeth Is Missing

    by Emma Healey
    An elderly woman's struggle with dementia, as she desperately searches for her missing friend.

    Maud, a grandmother in her 80s living with Alzheimer's disease , relies on sticky notes to get through the day as her memory slowly deteriorates. One day her best friend, another elderly woman named ... (Wikipedia)

  9. 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)

  10. 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)

  11. Life After Life

    by Kate Atkinson
    A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.

    The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Circle

    by Dave Eggers
    A cautionary tale of a powerful tech company that blurs the boundaries between privacy and surveillance.

    Mae Holland, a recent college graduate, lands a job at The Circle, a powerful technology company run by the "Three Wise Men"—Tom Stenton, a ruthless businessman; Eamon Bailey, a likeable public ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Luminaries

    by Eleanor Catton
    A complex mystery set in New Zealand's gold rush era, as a web of secrets and lies unravels.

    The story begins with one of the book's protagonists, Walter Moody, arriving in the smoking room of the Crown Hotel after having encountered a horrific sight on his boat trip to Hokitika . There, he ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Solar

    by Ian McEwan
    A Nobel Prize-winning physicist navigates personal and professional challenges while attempting to solve the world's energy crisis.

    Michael Beard is an eminent, Nobel Prize –winning physicist whose own life is chaotic and complicated. The novel takes the reader chronologically through three significant periods in Beard's life: ... (Wikipedia)

  15. 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)

  16. The Sisters Brothers

    by Patrick deWitt
    A unique western, following two brothers on a quest to find and murder a prospector.

    In 1851, Eli and Charlie Sisters, a pair of assassins of minor repute, are hired by a wealthy businessman known only as "the Commodore" to travel from Oregon City to California in order to murder a ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Scoop

    by Evelyn Waugh
    A humorous and satirical look at journalistic misadventures in Africa.

    Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of the "Daily Beast", has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Bone Clocks

    by David Mitchell
    A time-spanning saga of a war between two powerful supernatural forces.

    Following a scalding row with her mother, fifteen-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: a sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew ... (Goodreads)

  19. Us

    by David Nicholls
    A couple's marriage is tested during a summer trip across Europe, forcing them to confront their past and future together.

    Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

    by Rachel Joyce
    An elderly man's unexpected quest of faith, discovering the power of hope and love.

    Harold Fry, 65, has cut the lawn outside his home at Kingsbridge on the south coast of Devon when he receives a letter. A colleague of twenty years ago, Queenie Hennessy, has cancer and is in a ... (Wikipedia)

  21. 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)

  22. The Paying Guests

    by Sarah Waters
    A forbidden affair between two women in 1920s London, amidst an era of social change.

    It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa—a large, silent house now ... (Goodreads)

  23. 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)

  24. 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)

  25. 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)

  26. The Uncommon Reader

    by Alan Bennett
    A humorous look at the journey of a monarch who discovers the joy of reading.

    The title's "uncommon reader" ( Queen Elizabeth II ) becomes obsessed with books after a chance encounter with a mobile library . The story follows the consequences of this obsession for the Queen, ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Stranger Child

    by Rachel Abbott
    A woman's life is turned upside down when a young girl appears claiming to be her daughter who went missing years ago. Twists and turns abound.

    From the author of number one bestseller,, Sleep Tight., One Dark Secret. One act of revenge. When Emma Joseph met her husband David, he was a man shattered by grief. His first wife had been killed ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

    by Michael Chabon
    Two cousins create a comic book superhero and find success and adventure in 1940s New York.

    The novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City , where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman. With the help of his ... (Wikipedia)

  29. 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)

  30. The Reluctant Fundamentalist

    by Mohsin Hamid
    A Pakistani man's journey of identity and belonging, in a post-9/11 world.

    At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter… Changez is ... (Goodreads)