what
Perhaps the biggest bestseller of the decade is a psychological thriller with more unexpected plot twists than even the most demanding reader might wish for.
Plot
On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunn's wife, Amy, disappears under suspicious circumstances, and he turns out to be the prime suspect in her possible murder.
Context
Critics have called Flynn's book a "romance of mirrors": here nothing can be trusted and on every page everything turns out to be not what it seems. It seems that the reader opens the book for the sake of being thoroughly dumbfounded, but not only. Flynn composes a kind of fascinating reading material on the most beloved theme of the big novel - about the family. She takes two completely glossy main characters, rips off all the veils from them, so what kind of marriage is there, it's uncomfortable to stand with such people, but at the same time it implies that such an impossible union of unpleasant people is the ideal formula for a strong marriage.
Screen adaptation
Young, successful, beautiful and, most importantly, emphatically Hollywood protagonists are just asking for the screen - Flynn seems to be writing a novel about the secret life of American stars. By the way, the novel repeatedly emphasizes what kind of blondes they are - and it seems that the very choice of Ben Affleck for the main role hints that Fincher was up to something in spite of the text. In any case, this adaptation will not be difficult to become better than the original - there is nothing in the text, except for the plot, and Fincher is just known for his ability to do beautifully.
Tom McCarthy "When I Was Real"
what
An avant-garde novel, delightfully unlike any other novel before and after.
Plot
The protagonist, waking up in a hospital after an unnamed disaster, receives several million compensation for damage and paranoid uncertainty in the reality of today - and spends a fortune on recreating the "real" pictures dormant in his mind. It all starts with the construction of an entire house, in which a team of special people recreates the smell of fried liver, the sounds of music from the pianist from above, cats walking on the roof. But it doesn't end there - a scene of a street robbery is recreated behind the house, and then something worse.
Context
Tom McCarthy came to literature from contemporary art, and his novel is not about the state of modern society, but rather about the state of contemporary art. Like trying to find out how far the art of actionism can go in its pursuit of reality. That is, it is not only the fantasies of the hero suffering from the inability to smoke a cigarette with De Niro's ease in Evil Streets that are important here, but also the fact that a whole army of professionals helps him to fulfill any whim: from casting to literally choosing wallpaper. This alienation of the process from the result is reminiscent of the cinematic one - is it worth adding that this is the book that Charlie Kaufman was inspired by when he wrote New York, New York.
Screen adaptation
It is logical that the film adaptation of the novel was also undertaken not by the director, but by the artist, and not the last row: video artist Omer Fast became famous precisely for his works feeling the line between art and reality - in Spielberg's List (2003) he interviews the team of the film Schindler's List on the site of a concentration camp built near Krakow as a backdrop for a film, in Casting, a soldier talking about his service in Iraq turns out to be an actor trying out the role of a soldier. The author of the book and the director wrote the script for the film together - and, it seems, understood each other: the movie, where Tom Sturridge, with the help of artistic reconstructions, tries to reach his own forgotten past, Fast describes as the story of an artist devoid of talent.
Laura Hillenbrand "Unbroken"
what
One of the top nonfiction bestsellers of the decade, Time magazine's 2010 book of the year is about a man who survived.
Plot
The incredible biography of Louis Zamperini, the street boy who was raised as an Olympic runner and sent to the Games in Berlin. Then he became a pilot during the Second World War, survived a plane crash, drifted on a raft in the ocean for a month - and that's all to be captured by the Japanese.
Context
An incredible and completely real story that Laura Hillenbrand found; our time needs heroes and, not finding them in the present, finds them in the recent past.
Screen adaptation
The Coen brothers wrote the script for the film Angelina Jolie, which we will see at the end of the year, her joint photo with the main character, taken shortly before his death, went around the Internet, but it may turn out that the desire to make a socially responsible movie will play a bad joke with her: this An already pretentious story is easy to kill with bestial seriousness.
Jannette Walls "The Glass Castle"
what
A wonderful book about a difficult childhood in a strange family.
Plot
Dad drinks, mom draws pictures, no one works, there is often no food at home and never money, children do not go to school, but dad can tell them the best fairy tale in the world, and mom will teach them to play the piano - and everyone is happy.
Context
In fact, "The Glass Castle" is almost the best thing that has happened to the literature of young adults over this decade: instead of the fictional suffering of dystopian adolescents, there is a real difficult childhood, where the bohemian life of parents is not always the joy of their four children.
Screen adaptation
The main name of the upcoming film adaptation is already known - it is Jennifer Lawrence, for whom this book will become a chance to finally get out of the swamp of the Hunger Games somewhere closer to the arthouse. With all her love for Lawrence, a lot depends on her in this film adaptation: the whole book is built on very subtle details, and "Land of the Tides" should come out of this in an amicable way, and not just another teen thriller.
Colm Toybin "Brooklyn"
what
Irishman Kolm Toybin, one of the most serious contemporary authors, tragically (for us) not translated into Russian, and his novel, which won the Costa Prize in 2009.
Plot
A young Irish woman leaves her native village for America for a better life - and although it is already difficult for her in Brooklyn, everything becomes even more difficult when the tragic events at home force her to return home.
Context
Kolm Toybin is one of the few authors who can write long, slow, unhurried texts and follow their characters with close attention and exceptional sympathy, which have been forgotten by world literature for more than a hundred years. His novel, however, can be read more simply - like a novel about emigrants, on the contrary, where America becomes a place from which to leave.
Screen adaptation
Saoirse Ronan, an apprentice pastry chef at the Grand Budapest Hotel, will star in the upcoming - very Irish - adaptation of John Crowley, which seems to be the main plot of the heroine's inability to take life into her own hands.
Kevin Powers "The Yellow Birds"
what
The novel about returning from the war, written by a veteran of the war in Iraq, has become for Americans something like All Quiet on the Western Front in the 21st century.
Plot
Private John Bartle traveled to Iraq with his high school friend Murph. At the beginning of the war, they swear to each other not to die - but the hero returns alone. Surviving is still half the battle: it turns out to be completely impossible to adapt back to a peaceful life.
Context
Kevin Powers' novel has filled the empty niche of the Big Novel on Iraq; here, for the first time in the literature, all the soldiers' injuries are fully described - both in the fields and after the fields: why they leave, what they are going through and how they return.
Screen adaptation
Benedict Cumberbatch, approved for the lead role in the upcoming film by David Lowery, says too much about the upcoming film adaptation: he does not look very much like an Iraqi mercenary, which means that in a text that is half poetry and the other half is a call of blood, it is decided was to leave only poetry.
Sebastian Barry "Tablets of Fate"
what
A century of Irish history in a note from a madhouse.
Plot
A hundred-year-old woman, sitting in a madhouse, keeps a diary in which the tragedy of her own life is inseparable from the tragic history of Ireland - and her doctor sits around the corner and also keeps a diary, a little easier. Sooner or later they meet.
Context
The 2008 Costa Prize, the Booker Prize shortlisted and some other sea of \u200b\u200bawards prove, if not the importance, then the literary excellence of the text, the author of which is one of the best Irish writers and playwrights living today.
Screen adaptation
It is a rare case when it is already clear at the stage of preparing the film that it will pay tribute to the original: Jim Sheridan in the directors, in the roles of the patient and her doctors Vanessa Redgrave and Eric Bana - and a whole sea of \u200b\u200bfamous names in flashbacks.
Elizabeth Stout "Olivia Kitteridge"
what
A collection of stories from the life of the American province, in which the main character manages to remain a minor character almost to the end.
Plot
13 stories from a small town in New England, from which the image of the main character is gradually formed - an uncomfortable, domineering, aging school math teacher. We meet Olivia Kitteridge who is not young, and we see off the old one - in general, this is a story, if not about aging, then about the loneliness that inevitably accompanies it.
Context
Pulitzer Prize in 2009 - and a whole bunch of awards: Elizabeth Stout managed not only to find a new hero, but also to accomplish a more difficult task - to tell the story of an uncomfortable heroine with sympathy.
Screen adaptation
Frances McDormand, starring in the HBO miniseries due this fall, is not very suitable for the role of Kitteridge: in the novel, we are repeatedly shown how large, physically uncomfortable body she has. By making the heroine miniature, television also chopped off the novel itself, turning it into a story about what happens to marriage after the children have grown - a line that turns out to be far from the main one in the novel.
Jojo Moyes "Me Before You"
what
A sad story of impossible love that sells very well.
Plot
A girl at a crossroads loses her job and gets a job as a nurse for an intelligent, handsome and completely paralyzed person after an accident.
Context
The genre of social rom-com that Jojo Moyes invented with this novel and has been exploiting it ever since is an undoubted success. Here, in general, all the same Jane Austen plus the problems of the first world in the XXI century. That is, poor beautiful girls have nothing to pay for loans, Mr. Darcy also cry, in between times there are many details of the hard life of the working class, laughter through tears, but still more tears. It's not required reading, just a good girlish novel, but it proves that literature can be left in a good way without being too smart.
Screen adaptation
Estimated exit - August 2015. Sentimental prose of this kind, as a rule, in film adaptations becomes something moderately marginal: it gains its strong hundred million (three times the budget), after which everyone tries to forget it, as an annoying misunderstanding. Not counting on anything, the studio gave itself the will to play a little: it invited Thea Sherrock, who is known more for her theatrical works, to the director's chair (this will be her debut in a feature film, but she, as they say, is widely known on Broadway, in particular, it was her we owe a naked Daniel Radcliffe with a horse), and for the main female role she called Emilia Clarke aka Khaleesi. And Sherrock seems determined not to knock tears out of the audience, but to show him the injustice of the British class system.
Whether the weather is good or bad, there is no activity sweeter and more interesting than sitting on a cozy sofa surrounded by pillows, with a cup of hot tea at hand and, most importantly, a fascinating book in front of your eyes. We all love a good story, an epic story, a tearful story, a story that will drag us into the maelstrom of its events, bewitch us with ornate phrases and make us forget about the real world, real people and real problems for an hour or two, or even for a whole day.
Books give us a chance to experience unprecedented adventures with a wide variety of characters, to feel the feelings hitherto inaccessible to us, to visit unseen and sometimes non-existent lands. One book can be enough for a day or a week, depending on how fast you read. However, it nevertheless takes a lot of time, and this hobby requires a lot of money. Therefore, every really good book is worth its weight in gold, because it more than pays for all the costs, while mediocre or obviously weak literature only spoils the mood and makes you regret the time and money spent on it. We bring you the most interesting reading books available on the shelves of our local stores.
Planet Water, Boris Akunin
It's impossible to miss with Akunin. All his books, both novels and historical essays, capture from the very first minutes with their smooth narrative speech and fascinating plot. "Planet Water" continues a series of detective novels about the beloved character of Erast Fandorin, who, in his full of events, managed to solve many crimes and conspiracies, as well as visit various parts of the planet, including mysterious Japan, where he learned the art of ninjutsu and found the faithful friend and assistant Masu. However, the funny valet does not play a big role in this book. It consists of three novellas, three new adventures of Erast with the corresponding subtitle "The Adventures of Erast Fandorin in the XX century".
Paper Towns, John Green
The author of the poignant in its tragedy novel "The Fault in Our Stars", John Green, has already won a whole army of fans. So it comes as no surprise that Paper Cities immediately hit bestsellers and flew off the shelves at a record rate. The book tells the story of a teenager Kew Jacobsen and his mysterious neighbor Margot Spiegelman, for whom he had feelings for many years. When one day Margot invites him to participate in a punitive operation against her offenders, Kew immediately agrees. But after this venture, Margot suddenly disappears, leaving behind only a trail of notes and subtle hints. Like all the most interesting books, "Paper Cities" received a film adaptation, in which the main role was played by the famous supermodel Cara Delevingne.
The colorless Tskuru Tazaki and the years of his wanderings, Haruki Murakami.
Haruki Murakami is without a doubt one of the top 100 authors who should be read at least once in a lifetime. Like most Japanese writers, Murakami gives his books a special philosophical atmosphere, full of reflections and inner experiences of the hero, from whose thoughts you simply cannot tear yourself away. Each word is a revelation, each event has its own meaning, each detail gives additional meaning to the story. Tskuru Tazaki is a colorless man, whose life once made a sharp turn and rapidly rolled downhill, when all his friends turned away from him for no reason. Many years later, already an adult Tskuru decides to find out exactly when and what exactly went wrong in his life, going first to Nagoya, and later even to distant Finland.
The Martian, Andy Weyer
You know you've stumbled upon a worthwhile book when you are greeted with quotes like "duct tape works everywhere and everywhere. Duct tape is a gift from the gods, it needs to be worshiped" and "it's not as bad as it seems. So I'm still in my ass . Just not that deep. " And there are plenty of such gems in the book. The film adaptation of Andy Weier's fantasy book does not try to impress the reader with beautiful speech patterns or cheap action, it takes a completely different course. Mark Watney was left on Mars during the evacuation, presumed dead. Having woken up completely alone and having no connection with the Earth, Mark had no choice but to try to survive on an alien planet, using all the available means in his arsenal.
Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts
Published in Russian in 2010, Shantaram takes pride of place in the list of the top 100 best books of all time. The plot tells the story of an Australian escaped from prison, a former drug addict and robber. With the help of a fake passport and the name Lindsay Ford, he gets to Bombay, where he begins a completely new life, full of adventures, misadventures and all sorts of difficulties. In the book, the experiences of the protagonist himself, his thoughts, the wise sayings of his acquaintances and, of course, descriptions of an exotic country and its inhabitants are intertwined in an amazing mix. On February 5, a sequel to the book with the intriguing title "Shadow of the Mountain" is published.
After you Jojo Moyes
"After You" is a sequel to the novel "Me Before You", telling about the future life of the main character, Lou Clark, after the death of her beloved. Trying to forget about him and open a new page in her life, Lou returns home and finds sympathy and understanding in the psychological support group among the same people who share with her the gravity of her situation and her deep feelings. Thanks to them, Lou meets the ambulance doctor Sam Fielding and an understanding develops between them. But despite the sympathy that Lou has for a new acquaintance, she is still not sure that she can move on and love again. According to the author himself, "After You" is an unplanned book, but Lou's fate simply did not leave her alone, as, quite possibly, many fans of the first book.
The Mysterious Story of Billy Milligan, Daniel Keyes
Master of the psychological novel, author of the late twentieth century masterpiece Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes continues to explore the mysteries of the human mind. Taking as a basis the story of a very real person Billy Milligan, who suffered from multiple personality disorder, Keyes created a truly astounding and goosebumping novel about how scary it is to share your body with another mind and lose months, if not years of your life in oblivion, while someone else, standing at the helm, performs completely unthinkable acts. The main character, like his real prototype, was accused of crimes that he did not commit. And until he was arrested, no one even suspected what chaos and what a struggle for a place in the sun was going on in Billy Milligan's head.
The Year We Met, Cecilia Ahern
The queen of the sentimental novel, Cecilia Ahern, once again pleases her fans with not only a touching love story, but also food for thought. Jasmine, the protagonist, had everything her heart could desire - a great job, friends and family. But all this changed overnight when she was suddenly fired and for a whole year she remains idle. However, the girl does not lose heart and takes on all sorts of small chores around the house, takes care of the garden, makes new acquaintances and builds relationships. Jasmine's adventures give you the opportunity to look at your own life from a different angle and learn something new about yourself, which you did not even know about until now.
All the light we cannot see, Anthony Dorr
Reading about the war is not easy, writing about the war is even more difficult. However, Anthony Doerr took the challenge without fear and, after many years of deliberation, revealed to the world "The Light Invisible to Us", which immediately hit the bestsellers and won the Pulitzer Prize. The plot follows the lives of two completely different characters, a shy German boy and a blind French girl who, despite the war raging around, are fighting for survival and for the right to grow and be happy, while trying to preserve humanity and not lose loved ones.
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
A gripping detective thriller by former journalist Paula Hawkins, it immediately gained popularity after its release and held the leading position on The New York Times bestseller list for 14 weeks. Rachel often watches from the train window for one, seemingly perfect, family, husband and wife, whom she named Jess and Jason. But one day the beautiful picture is shattered when Rachel notices something shocking as she drives by, after which Jess disappears. Rachel is confident that she can find out what happened to Jess, but not sure if she should interfere with someone else's life.
We hasten to remind you that these are not all interesting reading books that you can purchase. These are just a few suggestions based on the bestseller list in local stores. Do not be afraid to experiment and perhaps unexpectedly for yourself, you will greatly expand your horizons and learn something new about yourself.
Miranda Julai is a man-orchestra. In addition to filming a film, a director's project and a collection of short stories that won the prestigious Frank O'Connor Prize, Julay has a debut novel that also deserves attention.
“The First Bad Man” is a tragicomic story about an imaginary and real world; about loneliness, opposites and love. In the center of the plot is a sensitive and charismatic heroine, with her emotionality reminding each of us.
The light, sarcastic novel by British writer Zadie Smith won the Orange Prize, one of the main awards in the English-speaking literary world. The main characters of the novel - Professor Belsi and Professor Kips - specialize in the work of Rembrandt, but this is where their similarities end.
Political views, art, the idea of \u200b\u200bmulticulturalism - throughout the entire work, their opposition only intensifies. Smith masterfully sneers at the university "war" and exposes the absurdity of all beliefs.
Billy Milligan is a multiple-personality offender who helped him avoid jail time. Daniel Keys wrote a documentary about the amazing characters (which only the parodist Steve or the little Christine are) that filled the essence of Milligan. In the center of the plot is the arrested protagonist, juggling with the memories of his lives.
The sensual narrative of the relationship with the famous drug lord follows the canons of the Latin American drama: the plot covers the ups and downs of the energetic Escobar and the history of his novel. The confession of the journalist Virginia Vallejo is a kind of excursion into the controversial, bright, dangerous era of the formation of the Medellin cartel.
Through the ironic, thoughtful novel by Amoor Towles, one can look at Soviet realities from an interesting perspective. The main character, the charming Count Alexander Rostov, has been declared an enemy of the people and is forced to serve his sentence in the Moscow hotel Metropol, which he cannot leave on pain of death. Thus begins a new chapter in the history of the country and its own life.
Modern classic
An ironic novel about the hardships of family life. In the center of the plot - lawyer Abel Bretodeau and his wife Mariette, living another crisis of coexistence. The eminent French writer explores the "immobility" of marriage, fascinatingly talking about its pitfalls - every sentence is an aphorism.
The legendary novel about one of the most powerful mobsters in America was published in 1969 and inspired Francis Coppola to create the cult film of the same name. The unhurried story of Don Corleone's victories and misadventures enchants from the first pages: the author masterfully describes both the mechanics of gangster life and the difficult fate of the Godfather himself.
Not everyone knows that after almost 50 years, Bradbury published a sequel to the popular story "Dandelion Wine". In this novel, the main character Douglas Spaulding grows up and lives new, unforgettable stories.
The book that gave the writer the Booker Prize and inspired Boris Akunin to take on Coronation impresses with the authentic atmosphere of good old England. The story is led by the butler Stevens. Selfless service to Lord Darlington, detailed everyday life, dangerous intrigues, dedication and resourcefulness - one cannot but empathize with the main character of this novel, the text is so mesmerizingly built.
Fantasy novels
The novel earned its creator the Carnegie Medal, an award for the best children's book of the year. Taking inspiration from the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and his own sense of humor, the English writer creates a large-scale, non-trivial space. The imposing cat here coexists with the clan of rats, and in the dungeons there is an evil that cannot be overcome so easily.
One of the most famous American science fiction novels tells about the thin, subtle line between reality and illusion. In the near future, life does not end after death, and some people are able to turn back time. The world turns into a place where the supernatural is combined with the ordinary, and the heroes have to adapt to it and separate the wheat from the chaff.
The cult novel about Professor Challenger was published in 1912. The story unfolds in South America: the main character and his colleagues go on an expedition, during which they discover a world untouched by time.
A complex story about two unusual worlds. Wonderland is something like modern Japan, where evil frogs are found, and the subconscious is amenable to control. End of the World - gloomy Nowhere, in which there is a City and a Forest, and in libraries they read dreams from the skulls of unicorns. Like other bestsellers, this novel is a masterly combination of the familiar and the anomalous, magic and human power.
The famous American science fiction novel was published in 1955. A large-scale story tells about the organization "Eternity", which has conquered time. Millions of eras and human lives are in their power. Global changes will begin with extraordinary events in the life of Andrew Harlan - a talented Technician who will encroach on the existing world order for the sake of love.
Detective stories
This novel is an artistic experiment by Lars Mitting, author of the nonfiction bestseller Norwegian Forest. The atmospheric plot develops according to the laws: sudden death of parents, short-term memory loss, return to a mysterious tragedy many years later ... In order to dot the i's, Edward Hirifjell will have to plunge into his dark past.
A hot, witty book from Booker Prize laureate Paul Baity. Gunfights, drugs, cops and political strife, broadcast from the point of view of the fearsome Winston Fauchey, all immerse you in the novel from the first lines and allow you to look at the American elections from a different angle. The author does not skimp on gloomy descriptions and highlights the problems of life in the ghetto.
A large-scale disaster novel about saving the planet from the apocalypse. A flash on the Sun turns into a series of cataclysms that threaten to destroy humanity. Survival instructions are found in ancient writings covering a mysterious crystal column at the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps 12,000 years ago, humans knew a thing or two about a distant, sinister future.
The world is deceptive and illusory: good can turn out to be evil, an angel is a real devil. In this novel, the "angel" depicts an atomic monster capable of destroying millions of people in an instant. Only Max Flynn, a super-agent in the service of Her Majesty, can stop the disaster. This is an exciting story about the limit of human capabilities, courage and love.
Cozy Parisian home - a meeting place for Madeleine Green and Gaspard Coutance, who by mistake moved into the same apartment. The social-phobic playwright and the former police officer sought solitude, and instead discovered the mysterious past of the famous artist's rooms and each other. This is an atmospheric investigation novel, in which the search for the criminal is intertwined with the personal stories of the heroes.
The cinematic novel immerses the reader in a resort environment in the south of France. The scorching sun, a villa with a pool, two married couples and - a strange creature named Kitty French, shocking guests with immodest and perplexing behavior. In a few days, serenity will turn into anxiety and tension: where did this woman come from and what does each of the heroes of the book hide?
A heartfelt family saga about women with extraordinary abilities. Molly and her daughter Cassandra can foresee the future, but this gift does not bring them happiness: predictions play a cruel joke with them. This is a novel about fatalism and human faith, love and real miracles.
The touching, multifaceted collection of short stories earned the English writer the prestigious Frank O'Connor Prize. Each of these texts praises love in all its manifestations. The author carefully observes how this feeling is born in painful, strange and unusual circumstances.
Life is unpredictable: you never know what little thing will lead to dramatic changes. For Emmy Hamilton, owner of a bookstore, such a trifle becomes an accidental find - love letters from the Second World War. These texts are a bridge between the mysterious past of the O'Shea sisters and the life of Emmy, who decided to find the key to their story.
This novel opens the saga "The Chronicles of the Kazalet Family", created by an English writer. In the center of the plot is the tragicomic life of one English family, where each of the heroes is looking for answers to the main questions. The story begins in 1937, and the relationship develops in an unsettling, pre-storm atmosphere.
A lightweight, witty book about the mating experiment: To drive away routine and boredom, ideal spouses Sylvie and Dan surprise each other. At first, a funny game leads to embarrassment and gives many reasons for jokes, but soon the main characters are really surprised: it turned out that each of them keeps skeletons in a closet.
A touching, inspiring text about the mysterious Vianne (in the Hollywood film of the same name - Juliette Binoche) and her chocolate shop. Her appearance in a quiet French town is a real event for local residents, followed by other incidents, one more surprising than the other.
The French novel, which has won overwhelming popularity around the world, tells the story of the fate of three women, each of whom is ready to fight for freedom and happiness. India, Sicily, Canada - charismatic heroines live on different continents and have never met, but it is no coincidence that their lives overlap.
No matter how unusual it may sound, but in the modern world of various gadgets, applications and IT technologies, our youth still read books, many modern authors speak about this with a new style and approach to writing books.
What are these books, or rather, stories that excite the modern reader?
Let's find out what they are - the most interesting modern books. Although it will not be easy to make a choice among the huge amount of interesting literature, we will try to do it.
E.L. James - Fifty Shades of Gray
Well, how do you remember the most sensational and scandalous book under the intriguing title "Fifty Shades of Gray"? This half romantic and half erotic story of a touching and hot relationship between a journalist and a successful businessman made a splash, and also had the effect of an exploding bomb.
For the first time in many years, someone dared to write not only about sex, but also about the possibilities and desires of a person during the time of lust and passion.
What is the appropriate name for this love story, because this is the trouble of the modern world. Yes, yes, the Internet is a destructive web, how many opportunities it gives and takes away the same amount. People get to know each other, meet and communicate in the virtual world, forgetting about living emotions and experiences. And when, having met in the real world, they do not fit each other, they cannot understand what is the matter and why virtual love and sympathy are so different from the real world, because everything was perfect on social networks ...
George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire. The game of thrones"
We could not ignore the most discussed and popular novel of the 21st century. A whole series of fantasy novels has captured the minds of young people and made a generation of fans of this trilogy. The plot of the book unfolds around the fictional continent of Westeros and its mysterious, and I would even say, a little mystical inhabitants. A mysterious saga about the life of seven kingdoms, where love reigns, hatred reigns and the war for the iron throne never ends. Here, as is customary in science fiction novels, dragons, magicians and fearless warriors are present. If you are far from a child, but still love fairy tales, then this series of books about the magic kingdom is for you.
Markus Zuzak - "The Book Thief"
A very touching story about a girl who was adopted as an adult. The plot takes place during the Second World War in a small German town where everyone is afraid of death and reprisals. But a strong girl named Liesel finds strength and a great desire to comprehend science and read interesting books beyond her age. Although she gets them not in a very honest and humane way, but simply to say, she steals from the library of a person respected by everyone, but the end justifies all means, doesn't it? This book should be read by everyone, it is easy to read and the plot is just wonderful.
John Green - The Fault in Our Stars
Love is the most important and primary feeling in our life and in the whole world. At the same time, a very romantic and sad love story of two terminally ill people. Hazel Grace and August Waters meet at a cancer support group meeting and fall in love. They know that a quick death will part them, but they are happy that before leaving they experienced tender feelings and found happiness. An unusual love story, where pain is intertwined with tenderness and happiness, and which is a must-read.
Pavel Sanaev "Bury me behind the plinth"
A touching and very life story about how love turns into hatred and tyranny. The story is autobiographical, it is told by a little boy who was abandoned by his own mother, leaving him in the care of his grandparents. And those, in turn, are not too happy about such a prospect, but are ready to fulfill this duty of conscience without unnecessary feelings and emotions. The strict grandmother is sure that she will raise the boy as an obedient and insensitive robot. Only here Sasha Savelyev does not think so and he has his own opinion on everything ... Yeah, you can't dream of such a childhood ... This story is included in the list of books that you should definitely read.
Bernhard Schlink - "The Reader"
Each of us has our own secrets and secrets. The book "The Reader" is a rather complex psychological story of love, passion, hopelessness and betrayal.
A fifteen-year-old boy and a quite adult woman have an affair, they are united by an interest in books, and an educated guy reads important and interesting, in his opinion, books to his illiterate lover.
A violent passion and unusual relationship ends as unexpectedly as it begins. But fate is preparing another meeting for the former lovers, only now the circumstances will not be too pleasant for them. Those who have not read this popular story are highly recommended to read, because this is one of the books that will make you think and touch all the notes of your soul.
Mitchell David - Cloud Atlas
The novel is on the brink of fiction - that's how critics dubbed it. The plot tells about six different people from different time periods, namely the past, the future and the present, but as it turns out later, they have one soul, it is simply subject to reincarnation and wanders, visiting one body or another. Everything is very confusing and the storylines are strongly intertwined, although the meaning and morality are still present here. But what they are - you decide. But to do this, you first need to read the book from beginning to end.
Moyes, Jojo - "Me Before You"
We all have our own past, and throughout our lives we all meet a person who is necessary and important for us, who will once and for all change it beyond recognition.
This touching novel is exactly about that. Already in the first weeks of sales, more than half a million copies were sold, and the book itself entered the top of real bestsellers according to the New York Times. And this turn of events is not at all surprising, because we all adore love stories that end with a happy ending.
Khaled Hosseini - "The Wind Runner"
The story of the friendship that two eastern boys Amir and Hasan carried through their whole lives, despite all the differences and social inconsistencies, because they are from different social strata and classes. Life scattered them in different places and forced them to be on different sides of the barricades, but despite this they are true to their conscience and friendship.
A very moral and life story, which came out from the pen of a talented writer, showed the whole world how to value friendship, and in spite of everything, not turn into blood enemies and by all means protect friendly relations.
Sebastian Barry "Tablets of Fate"
An interesting story about how a poor old woman, who has already turned a hundred years old, living her old age in an insane asylum, keeps her own diary, where she writes down difficult and sad memories associated with her fate and the country in which she was born.
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
An ordinary life story that takes place in a small town. Every summer two boys come to the village to visit their beloved grandfather and help the old man collect dandelions for his drink according to his own recipe. This interesting wine keeps their family history, traditions and memories, here and all-consuming love, friendship, quarrels and tragedies.
Colm Toybin - Brooklyn
The best novel of the year about a young girl and a real wanderer who returns to her native land after so many years of wandering and searching for herself. Life forces her to leave her native Ireland and settle in Brooklyn, New York. Maybe this is for the best, because the chance of finding love is much higher here.
Homesickness makes her thoughts constantly return to her native land, and when Eilis gets used to a strange city and becomes her own in it, life circumstances return her to Ireland.
What is it? A joke or a simple irony of fate? What will happen next and what tests did fate have in store for her? To find out the whole truth, you need to read the most interesting novel of 2017.
Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl
The detective of the decade will tell us about how you can live with a person for five years and not know him at all. A married and seemingly happy couple is preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary, but in an instant everything changes.
The thing is that the main character disappears without a trace, leaving a lot of bad evidence pointing to her death and even more questions. But we will find out the answers to them only when we read this most interesting book.
Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram
The story of an Australian guy who chose the wrong path in life and ended up in prison. By chance, he manages to escape, and to hide from sight, he goes to Bombay. In India, a guy named Lindsay doesn't get better and becomes a cheater and a cheater again. The moral of this novel is that "people don't change." Here is such a strange life story, but we will not reveal all the secrets and will give you a chance to read this book yourself.
Bernard Werber - "Empire of Angels"
We all ask ourselves the question: "Is there life after death and what awaits us beyond the line?" A story that touches on this topic and gives us a chance to reflect on and realize what evil and good are, why we are given life and how to properly dispose of it.
The main character of a science fiction novel named Michelle Panson, after death, goes to heaven (this is lucky), and becomes a Guardian Angel, receives three wards.
It turns out that it is not so easy to watch worldly life and be on the other side of the screen, and he is not an easy new profession. It was such a fantasy of the author that brought him and his novel worldwide fame. It's just that the topic is very interesting and in demand. After all, we are not eternal ...
Today, it is rare to find truly useful and interesting books on self-development. Sometimes a pretty cover hides mediocre content. To make it a little easier for you to navigate the variety of developing literature, we have prepared an overview of the 10 latest novelties from late 2013 - early 2014.
"Emotional intellect. Russian practice ". Sergey Shabanov Alena Aleshina
This book is not as popular as the namesake from Daniel Goleman, but very useful, informative and focused on Russian practice. Psychology, sociology, NLP, management and many other disciplines are intertwined here to help you understand and manage your own and others' emotions. In addition, this work is a real textbook that offers various cases, questions, exercises, opinions (including skeptical ones). You can just read the book in a few evenings, or you can study with it for several weeks - choose yourself.
The authors of this book, Sergey Shabanov and Alena Aleshinat- successful business trainers of the EQuator company, authors of trainings and programs for managers and leaders. Their clients include Severstal, SIBUR, MTS, MAGNA Cosma International, Nissan Manufacturing RUS, Danone Group of Companies in Russia, Yandex.Money, DataArt, OpenWay, Gazpromneft-North-West, Alfa-Bank , SIAB, Uralsib, Vostochny Express Bank, North-West Customs Administration, Swedwood, Yulmart and others. In the book, the owners of the consulting company EQuator talk about the domestic practice of using emotional intelligence in business. Emotional intelligence or EQ is a concept that characterizes a person's ability to be aware of emotions, to achieve and generate them in such a way as to facilitate thinking, understanding emotions and what they mean, and, accordingly, manage them in such a way as to contribute to their emotional and intellectual growth.
I am very glad that I was able to read this book, which perfectly complements the lessons on our site. This book will be especially useful for those who decide to create works of art. This is not a textbook, but rather a collection of metaphorical stories, dialogues, poems and photographs that will allow you to feel the creative spirit of Marina Moskvina.
Book page on the publisher's website.
“Take or give? A new look at the psychology of relationships ”. Adam Grant
This is another useful book on developmental psychology. The author tries to prove that the desire to help other people to the detriment of their own interests, without expecting any rewards, is not only not useless, but, on the contrary, leads people to success. Don't believe me? Read the book.
Book author, Adam Grant is the youngest and most popular professor at the Wharton School of Business. He has devoted more than a decade of his professional life to studying the psychology of relationships in various structures - from Google to the US Air Force. The respected BusinessWeek magazine ranked Adam Grant in the World Top 40 Professors Under 40.
Book page on the publisher's website.
- Section "", which contains popular literature in addition to;
- Article "" in our blog.
