Recommendations based on L'homme aux cercles bleusby Fred Vargas

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

  1. The Reader on the 6.27

    by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
    An unlikely friendship between a book-loving commuter and a mysterious author.

    An irresistible French sensation - Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore meets Amelie - The Reader on the 6.27 explores the power of books through the lives of the people they save. It is sure to capture ... (Goodreads)

  2. Fer-de-Lance

    by Rex Stout
    Detective Nero Wolfe investigates the murder of a college president, uncovering a web of deceit and corruption.

    Maria Maffei, a family friend of one of Wolfe's free-lance men, offers to hire Wolfe to locate her missing brother Carlo, a metalworker. Wolfe, affected by the Depression , decides to take the job, ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Red Notebook

    by Antoine Laurain
    An ordinary man discovers a lost notebook and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

    Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There's nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there's all sorts of other things in it. ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Monsters of Templeton

    by Lauren Groff
    A woman's search for her family history leads to a surprising discovery of her true identity.

    Willie Upton returns home to Templeton for the summer from her graduate studies in archaeology with several dark secrets. Her life seemingly in shambles, she moves back in with her mother for the ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Poet

    by Michael Connelly
    A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet's descent into darkness, as he unravels a web of deceit and murder.

    Denver crime-beat reporter Jack McEvoy specializes in violent death. So when his homicide detective brother kills himself, McEvoy copes in the only way he knows how–he decides to write the story. But ... (Goodreads)

  6. Headhunters

    by Jo Nesbø
    A corporate recruiter's desperate mission to save his family from a powerful criminal.

    Roger Brown is a corporate headhunter, and he’s a master of his profession. But one career simply can’t support his luxurious lifestyle and his wife’s fledgling art gallery. At an art opening one ... (Goodreads)

  7. 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)

  8. By Night in Chile

    by Roberto Bolaño
    A Catholic priest reflects on his past life, offering insight on Chilean politics.

    The story is narrated entirely in the first person by the sick and aging Father Urrutia. Taking place over the course of a single evening, the book is the macabre, feverish monologue of a flawed man ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

    by Jonas Jonasson
    An adventurous old man escapes a nursing home for an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

    Allan Karlsson is about to celebrate his hundredth birthday, and his retirement home in Malmköping is planning to throw a party. Allan is not interested. Instead, he climbs out the window and ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Address Unknown

    by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor
    A powerful story of friendship and betrayal, set against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism.

    Martin, a gentile, returns with his family to Germany, exhilarated by the advances in the old country since the humiliation of the Great War. His business partner, Max, a Jew, remains in the States ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

    by Olga Tokarczuk
    An elderly woman's journey of self-discovery, as she investigates a series of mysterious animal deaths.

    In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her ... (Goodreads)

  12. Memories of My Melancholy Whores

    by Gabriel García Márquez
    An elderly man's reflections on love and life, through the lens of a young prostitute.

    An old journalist, who has just celebrated his 90th birthday, seeks sex with a 14 year old prostitute, who is selling her virginity to help her family. Instead of sex, he discovers love for the first ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Metamorphoses

    by Ovid
    A collection of tales of transformation, featuring gods and mortals.

    Prized through the ages for its splendor and its savage, sophisticated wit, The Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of Western culture–the first attempt to link all the Greek myths, before and after ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Signature of All Things

    by Elizabeth Gilbert
    A woman's quest for knowledge and self-fulfillment, spanning through the 19th century.

    A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed. In The Signature of All Things, ... (Goodreads)

  15. I Am Pilgrim

    by Terry Hayes
    A former operative is called back into action to track down a terrorist plotting a global attack.

    A breakneck race against time...and an implacable enemy. An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid. A father publicly beheaded in the ... (Goodreads)

  16. 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)

  17. A March of Kings

    by Morgan Rice
    The second book in the "Sorcerer's Ring" series follows Thorgrin's journey to become a warrior and his quest to save his people.

    A MARCH OF KINGS takes us one step further on Thor's epic journey into manhood, as he begins to realize more about who he is, what his powers are, and as he embarks to become a warrior. After he ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. About a Boy

    by Nick Hornby
    A man reevaluates his life when he meets an awkward 12-year-old boy.

    Set in 1993 London, About a Boy features two main protagonists: Will Freeman, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus Brewer, an incongruous schoolboy described as 'introverted' by his suicidal mother, ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Adèle

    by Leïla Slimani
    A woman's obsession with sex and desire leads her down a dangerous path of infidelity and self-destruction.

    Adèle appears to have the perfect life: She is a successful journalist in Paris who lives in a beautiful apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son. But underneath the surface, she is ... (Goodreads)

  20. Sense & Sensibility

    by Joanna Trollope
    Modern retelling of Jane Austen's classic novel, exploring the lives and loves of the Dashwood sisters in contemporary England.

    John Dashwood promised his dying father that he would take care of his half sisters. But his wife, Fanny, has no desire to share their newly inherited estate with Belle Dashwood's daughters. When she ... (Goodreads)

  21. At the Wolf's Table

    by Rosella Postorino
    A young German woman is forced to taste Hitler's food for poison during WWII. A story of survival, guilt, and the power of friendship.

    The main character is telling the story while in the present day as a senior citizen. , The novel won the Premio Campiello literary prize. , ... (Wikipedia)

  22. 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)

  23. Bloomability

    by Sharon Creech
    Dinnie's life changes when she moves to Switzerland and attends an international school. She learns to embrace new experiences and friendships.

    Domenica Santolina Doone, known as Dinnie, has spent most of her life traveling around the United States because her father is transiently employed. Dinnie feels that she has settled into this ... (Wikipedia)

  24. A Spy in the House

    by Y.S. Lee
    A young woman in Victorian London becomes a spy for a women's detective agency, uncovering secrets and solving mysteries.

    Introducing an exciting new series! Steeped in Victorian atmosphere and intrigue, this diverting mystery trails a feisty heroine as she takes on a precarious secret assignment. Rescued from the ... (Goodreads)

  25. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

    by Beth Fantaskey
    Adopted Jessica discovers she is a vampire princess betrothed to a handsome vampire prince. Can she embrace her destiny and love?

    The undead can really screw up your senior year ... Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Overstory

    by Richard Powers
    Nine strangers are brought together by their love for trees, leading to a fight to save the last of the remaining forests.

    Nicholas Hoel, Mimi Ma, Adam Appich, Ray Brinkman, Dorothy Cazaly, Douglas Pavlicek, Neelay Mehta, Patricia Westerford, and Olivia Vandergriff are people who had unique relationships with trees which ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Père Goriot

    by Honoré de Balzac
    A tale of ambition, greed, and human relationships in 19th century Paris.

    The novel opens with an extended description of the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris' rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève covered with vines, owned by the widow Madame Vauquer. The residents include ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Cutting for Stone

    by Abraham Verghese
    A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.

    The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)

  29. American Psycho

    by Bret Easton Ellis
    A corporate psychopath's descent into homicidal madness, exposing the dark side of 1980s New York.

    Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Coffin Road

    by Peter May
    A man wakes up on a beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He must uncover the truth about his past and a murder on a remote Scottish island.

    The master of crime brings murder back to the Outer Hebrides. A man is washed up on a deserted beach on the Hebridean Isle of Harris, barely alive and borderline hypothermic. He has no idea who he is ... (Goodreads)