Recommendations based on The Architect's Apprenticeby Elif Shafak

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

  1. The Forty Rules of Love

    by Elif Shafak
    A story of romance and spiritual enlightenment, exploring the teachings of a Sufi master.

    Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy , a novel written by a ... (Goodreads)

  2. Honor

    by Elif Shafak
    A family saga that explores the concept of honor and its impact on individuals and society.

    An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Bastard of Istanbul

    by Elif Shafak
    Exploring the shared history between Turkey and the US while uncovering secrets of a family’s past.

    From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families. In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent ... (Goodreads)

  4. And the Mountains Echoed

    by Khaled Hosseini
    Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.

    The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)

  5. 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)

  6. Season of Migration to the North

    by Tayeb Salih
    A stranger arrives in a small Sudanese village, stirring up dark secrets from the past.

    After years of study in Europe, the young narrator of Season of Migration to the North returns to his village along the Nile in the Sudan. It is the 1960s, and he is eager to make a contribution to ... (Goodreads)

  7. Like the Flowing River

    by Paulo Coelho
    Collection of stories reflecting on life's lessons, hopes and dreams.

    A breathtaking collection of reflections from one of the world's best loved storytellers, Paulo Coelho. In this riveting collection of thoughts and stories, Paulo Coelho, the author of 'The ... (Goodreads)

  8. Love in the Time of Cholera

    by Gabriel García Márquez
    An epic love story spanning decades, exploring the power of true love.

    The main characters of the novel are Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. Florentino and Fermina fall in love in their youth. A secret relationship blossoms between the two with the help of Fermina's ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Eleven Minutes

    by Paulo Coelho
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery and sexual liberation.

    Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Reader

    by Bernhard Schlink
    A man's journey of understanding, uncovering a dark secret from his past.

    Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of ... (Goodreads)

  11. Zorba the Greek

    by Nikos Kazantzakis
    A man embarks on a journey of self-discovery, learning to embrace life with gusto and joy.

    The book opens in a café in Piraeus , just before dawn on a gusty autumn morning. The year is most likely 1916. The narrator, a young Greek intellectual, resolves to set aside his books for a few ... (Wikipedia)

  12. A Strangeness in My Mind

    by Orhan Pamuk
    A story of a street vendor's life in Istanbul, exploring his dreams, disappointments and daily encounters.

    A Strangeness In My Mind is a novel Orhan Pamuk has worked on for six years. It is the story of boza seller Mevlut, the woman to whom he wrote three years' worth of love letters, and their life in ... (Goodreads)

  13. When Nietzsche Wept

    by Irvin D. Yalom
    Exploration of the relationship between a doctor and his patient, a tormented philosopher.

    From the acclaimed author of Love's Executioner and Schopenhauer’s Couch , comes a “fascinating…shrewd intellectual thriller” ( Los Angeles Times Book Review ) about pioneering Viennese psychoanalyst ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Runaway: Stories

    by Alice Munro
    A collection of short stories exploring the complexities of human relationships and the struggles of women in rural Canada.

    The incomparable Alice Munro’s bestselling and rapturously acclaimed Runaway is a book of extraordinary stories about love and its infinite betrayals and surprises, from the title story about a young ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Museum of Innocence

    by Orhan Pamuk
    A story of unrequited love set in the city of Istanbul, exploring the power of nostalgia and memory.

    Kemal has been engaged to a pretty girl named Sibel for two months when he meets a shop girl, Füsun, while buying a handbag for his fiancee. What follows in the next month and a half is an intense ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Steppenwolf

    by Hermann Hesse
    The inner struggles of a tortured soul as he searches for redemption.

    The book is presented as a manuscript written by its protagonist , a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Samarkand

    by Amin Maalouf
    Epic tale of a man's journey to discover his identity and the truths of his ancestry.

    The first half of the story is set in Persia (present day Iran ) and Central Asia in the 11th century, and revolves around the scientist, philosopher, and poet Omar Khayyám . It recounts the creation ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky
    A man's quest for happiness and meaning, resulting in a journey of self-realization.

    The story opens with the narrator wandering the streets of St. Petersburg . He is contemplating the ridiculousness of his own life, and his recent realization that nothing matters to him any more. It ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Rebel Queen

    by Michelle Moran
    Historical fiction about Rani Lakshmibai, the warrior queen who led a rebellion against British rule in 1857 India.

    From the internationally best-selling author of Nefertitiand Cleopatra's Daughter comes the breathtaking story of Queen Lakshmi - India's Joan of Arc - who against all odds defied the mighty British ... (Goodreads)

  20. 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)

  21. My Name Is Red

    by Orhan Pamuk
    An art mystery set in 16th century Istanbul, delving into the power of art, religion and love.

    At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name Is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of ... (Goodreads)

  22. A Case of Exploding Mangoes

    by Mohammed Hanif
    A satirical novel that explores the events leading up to the plane crash that killed Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in 1988.

    The central theme of the book is a fictitious story behind the real-life plane crash which killed General Zia , president of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, about which there are many conspiracy theories ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Angel's Game

    by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
    A writer's journey through a supernatural world of secrets and lies.

    The Angel's Game is set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s and follows a young writer, David Martin. In a once-abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, Martín makes his living by writing ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Bridge on the Drina

    by Ivo Andrić
    A multigenerational epic of a small Bosnian town and the bridge that stands as its symbol.

    A vivid depiction of the suffering history has imposed upon the people of Bosnia from the late sixteenth century to the beginning of World War I, The Bridge on the Drina earned Ivo Andric the Nobel ... (Goodreads)

  25. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

    by Elena Ferrante
    Two friends navigate the changing relationships of their youth and adulthood, and the consequences of their choices.

    In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila, the two girls whom readers first met in My Brilliant Friend, have become women. Lila married at sixteen and has a young son; she has left her abusive ... (Goodreads)

  26. Ice Cold

    by Tess Gerritsen
    A murder investigation takes a dark turn as a detective uncovers secrets from her past.

    In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they're ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Dalai Lama's Cat

    by David Michie
    A Tibetan monk's journey of personal growth and spiritual awakening, accompanied by a wise and lovable cat.

    “‘Oh! How adorable! I didn’t know you had a cat!’ she exclaimed. I am always surprised how many people make this observation. Why should His Holiness, not, have a cat? ‘If only she could speak,’ ... (Goodreads)

  28. How I Became Stupid

    by Martin Page
    A man decides to become stupid to escape the pressures of modern life, but finds it harder than he thought.

    Ignorance is bliss, or so hopes Antoine, the lead character in Martin Page's stinging satire, "How I Became Stupid" a modern day "Candide" with a Darwin Award-like sensibility. A twenty-five-year-old ... (Goodreads)

  29. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    by Patrick Süskind
    A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.

    An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

    by Louise Erdrich
    A priest's journey of self-discovery as he unravels secrets of a Native American community.

    There are two main timelines: novel’s “present day,” set in 1996 during the last few months of Father Damien's life, and Damien's past as Agnes DeWitt, from 1910 onward. Erdrich intermixes these ... (Wikipedia)