Top books to read. The most interesting books - lists

After many years of oblivion, the book is again becoming a fashionable attribute in the hands of a person who wants to be known as an intellectual. Of course, today's popularity of literature cannot be compared with the reading boom of the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties, when children sometimes had to be torn away from the adventures of their favorite characters, but there is a completely logical explanation for this. There were no tablets, laptops and other computer miracles then, and something exciting was rarely shown on TV. The question of what is read today in Russia and the world requires a detailed answer. Different books have a target audience… you can’t call it an audience, audio is when they listen. In general, the reader of different genres is different, but they are all good, except for the boring one, as the classic said.

Classic

It is still popular, moreover, its scope has expanded significantly. Those writers who quite recently (in the historical sense, of course) were classified as fiction fell into its category. To the contemporaries of Jack London or Antosha Chekhonte, who lived at the beginning of the twentieth century, these wonderful masters of plot and words seemed to be ordinary people, contemporaries who successfully applied their talent (or even just abilities) in order to earn A.P. Chekhov himself believed that his works will be read and staged in the theater for at most a few years, and there they will be forgotten. Fortunately, the classic was wrong. His stories and novels are still popular today, they are more popular than most of the creations of modern authors, those that are read today. It is he who leads the rating, and not only in Russia, but also in many other countries (in Japan, for example), where, in addition to selling books, performances based on his plays are most often staged, interpreting them each time in a new way. The inhabitants of the planet are also not indifferent to Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dreiser, London, Dickens, Bulgakov. A few more are in the top ten favorite writers, but in different countries they occupy different positions. Classics are read most often from paper media, so it's more interesting.

Criteria

Evaluating the most read books today is difficult. For this, various methods are used, the main of which is circulation. This method of analysis is of the greatest practical importance, especially for publishers and printers interested in the largest possible sales of their products. However, this approach has an approximate relation to the true state of affairs. A book in our time is not a cheap thing, and today it can be safely attributed to a truly “best gift”, with which it is not a shame to come to a birthday or anniversary. Therefore, a printed edition is often lent to friends and acquaintances who do not want to spend money on such an expensive thing, and often a one-time thing. Home libraries in our time are rare people, volumes take up valuable space in the home, and then there is the Internet, where you can find almost everything, at least what is read today. The rating is looked for in the same place, in order not to get confused in the huge flow of modern and classical literature. So many people do it, drive texts into tablets and read everywhere, on buses, trams and subways.

Read frequency

The circulation of the publication is set by an official called the publisher, who often makes a decision based on his own ideas about how successful the project will be.

Another criterion by which literary ratings and lists of the best books are compiled is a simple arithmetic addition of the number of hits to the author's page on the Internet, if there is one, of course. To do this, site creators install software counters that mark each visitor. The disadvantage of this method is the lack of information. It is not known whether the work was read in full, or it was simply glanced at and immediately closed. In addition, it is impossible to count all readers due to the fact that it and the same story can be presented on different sites, sometimes, alas, without the knowledge of the author, and not all of them provide for the function of cumulative counting. The number of downloads is also not always taken into account, and in this case we are very rarely talking about material rewards.

What do women read

The beautiful half of humanity is more likely than men to be friends with a book. What worries women, and what do they read today? The rating of a dozen works most popular among ladies is closed by Eduard Asadov, a real poet and writer who sang true love. For half a century, the number of admirers of his talent has not decreased, but increased. In ninth place is a seemingly children's book called The Little Princess, or The Story of Sarah Crewe by Francis Burnett. The narrative is naive only at first glance, and mothers, introducing it to their daughters, themselves fall under the spell of the heroine's immediacy. Ustinova's detectives are buying somewhat more often, and Lauren Weisberger, the best-selling author of The Devil Wears Prada, is even higher. Further up the ladder of popularity ascend Joanna Lindsay, Tatyana Polyakova (again ladies' detectives) and with her "Secret World of a Shopaholic". Top positions are occupied by Stephenie Meyer with a vampire love story (Twilight) and a psychological novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Maybe the bottom positions are specific to Russian literature lovers, but the top ones completely repeat the rating of the most read books in the world among women.

What do men love?

If we discard money-obsessed entrepreneurs (who often become characters in novels than their consumers) and representatives of the stronger sex, who have an extremely low level of intelligence, then the rest of the not very numerous male brethren are also not averse to spending their free time turning pages. Which of the works for them is the most and most read? Many books have been written on the subject of courage. This is J. London, and E. M. Remarque, and historical chronicles, and literature of a military-technical nature. Everyone reads men, from Hemingway to Stephen King, but as a rule, they cannot stand specific women's novels. However, there are exceptions. Women sometimes, too, in fairness, indulge in pleasure with some book, which is considered exclusively male.

Children

Children, as already mentioned, read little now, and the author needs to make a lot of effort, combined with talent, in order to interest them in something. And in this case, it does not matter how deep the thoughts of such a work are, as in general what they read. Today, the rating of teenage and literature is headed by Alexander Anderson's books "Alex and coins" and "All the most beloved fairy tales" by Grigory Oster. In addition to them, fantasy stories, novels and sagas are popular (roughly like science fiction in the past). It can take a long time to analyze the reasons why life in a fictional world seems more interesting to the younger generation than the real one, but such is the prose of life, and it must be reckoned with, which is what publishing houses are doing, interested in the profitability of their activities. Some consolation is the decline in the popularity of Harry Potter. And the nostalgic return to eternal values, expressed in the “Murzilka Archive”, published in two volumes (from 1966 to 1974), is very pleasing.

Humor

Literature that causes laughter is the most difficult genre. Squeezing a tear out of a reader is much easier than making them even smile. The modern book lover reads Zhvanetsky with pleasure, especially the early one, pays tribute to Evgeny Petrov and is interested in contemporary authors. I was pleased with the book with the intriguing title “Plumber. Yours is my knee ”author Se Slava (obviously a pseudonym). Previously, this material was published on popular blogs, and now it came out "live". At the moment, these are the most read books in Russia on a humorous theme, and how to place them on the prize steps is up to the people to decide.

parables

In our country, as well as abroad, a large stratum of lovers of philosophical literature has formed. It's not about some serious scientific research(they are also in demand). These most widely read books in Russia in their genre are designed to encourage a person to think about eternal values, escape from worldly fuss and, if possible, gain wisdom, time-honored. These include the “Prophet” by Khalil Gibran, the paternal moralizing of the holy elders, the instructive polemics of Kuraev, and similar literature. Sales ratings do not give a real picture of the popularity of these publications. It is possible that someone acquires them in order to put them on the shelf in order to create the image of an intellectual person, in other cases they are literally read to holes. When presenting such a book as a gift, one should remember that only a thoughtful person, prone to

Fashion Literature

There is such a capricious and windy lady, who is called fashion. Most often it is found in branded boutiques and car dealerships, but sometimes it is also found in bookstores. A number of authors, having created a certain work, strive for scandalous fame, and achieve it by different methods. They generously saturate the speech of the characters with profanity, trying to give originality to the images, choose stories about cannibals, crazy people, drug addicts and other unsightly audiences, trying to surprise rather than please. For a rather short period of time, sellers tell buyers that these are the most read books in Russia. Today these are some authors, tomorrow others, and their succession does not dry out. It happens that stories do have certain artistic merit, but fashion writers who keep their nose to the wind of conjecture rarely create masterpieces.

It remains for the reader to evaluate his spiritual needs and choose his own among the boundless sea of ​​literature.

The book, written in the genre of a psychological thriller, pleasantly surprised readers of modern literature and lovers of detective stories. The story in it is conducted on behalf of three women - Rachel, Anna and Megan. The main character Rachel every day has to travel by train from the suburbs to London. Out of boredom, she watches from the window every day for a married couple who seems to her ideal. But one day she witnesses a strange scene, after which her husband goes missing. Rachel understands that only she will be able to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of a woman, but is it even possible to interfere in someone else's life, even in such situations.

The novel turned out to be so successful that Hollywood decided to film it. Emily Blunt and Rebecca Ferguson will play in it. The Girl on the Train will premiere in September 2016.

The beginning of the novel takes place in England in 1940. Flora Lewis receives a tempting offer from a mysterious "flower thief". She must go to England to find an extremely rare variety of camellia in the garden of an old estate. The circumstances are such that Flora is forced to enter the house of one lord as a nanny. And soon she finds an album for a herbarium with strange notes in the room of Lady Anna, who died under mysterious circumstances.

Then the reader is transported to modern New York, getting acquainted with the heroine named Addison. Her husband suggests going to the suburbs of London to be able to write a book there. After leaving there, Addison finds a story about a beautiful camellia that once grew in the garden of the queen herself. An interesting feature The book is an alternate story about Flora and Addison, which appears in the book through one chapter.

Haruki Murakami's new novel cannot go unnoticed, and so it happened with the book Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and the years of his wanderings. The main character of his work was young and inexperienced. The new Tokyo world was very different from the environment in which the guy grew up. The metropolis turned out to be much larger than he imagined. Too many things to do, too many people around, life moves too fast. But he had a place for the soul, where he happily returned - the so-called "indestructible stronghold of harmony and friendship." However, in his second year, he learns that the place has disappeared without a trace.

The work of the author Jeannette Walls has become a real sensation in the world of modern literature. The journalist decided to speak frankly about her difficult childhood and growing up in large family. Her parents were supporters of strange parenting methods that raised many questions. From childhood, they were taught to stand up for themselves, go against the system of society, acquire useful skills and stick together. However, all these beliefs collapsed when the family began to have difficulties, the principles of unity sounded like a mockery, and existence practically in the garbage aggravated the situation. But all these trials taught Jeannette one thing - if you immerse yourself in the world of dreams, one day you will create it with your reality.

Harper Lee is a writer best known for her book To Kill a Mockingbird. For many years, this novel was considered her only work, which upset many readers. However, the list of novelties of literature in 2015 unexpectedly stunned book lovers around the world - the writer was preparing to release a book, which takes place 20 years after the events described in To Kill a Mockingbird. It turns out that this work was written first, but the publishers lost interest in it.

According to the plot of the new book, the main character Scout is forced to deal with many problems, she is trying to understand her father's attitude to society and its structure, as well as to realize her true feelings towards the place where she was born and raised.

This detective novel, which became an instant bestseller, was written by "mother" - JK Rowling, hiding under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The book became the final part of a series of publications about the private detective Cormoran Strike. In it, the complicated story begins with the fact that a woman named Robin received a package that contained a severed female leg. Her boss - the same Strike - outlined several suspects at once, capable of such a cruel act. While the police, focusing their attention on one of them, are trying to solve the crime, Kormoran realizes that this is a false trail. He takes matters into his own hands and plunges into a dark and confusing world, consisting of the mysteries of the past. The translation of the detective should appear in early 2016.

The author of the famous post-apocalyptic novel promised readers that he would turn the familiar and familiar world of his works upside down so that even for his fans there would be many discoveries. After such an announcement, a new book called "Metro 2035" was released, which describes the events on Earth after the third world war. The planet is completely empty, but at a depth of tens of meters, at stations and in tunnels, people are trying to wait out the end of the world. There they created a new world for themselves instead of the lost huge world. They cling to life with all their might and refuse to give up. They dream of returning to the top - one day, when the background radiation from nuclear bombing subsides. And do not leave hope to find other survivors.

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In childhood best entertainment for me it was to go to the library and spend the whole day there, looking at books, reading them right there, and then take home a pile.

Fortunately, now there is no need to run for stacks of books to libraries, there are convenient e-books, you can take it with you on vacation or read it in transport. And the public Internet has also appeared, as a source of information it is indispensable, it is easy to get the necessary information. Among other things, I study the blogs of people who read, keep track of the winners literary competitions, and these books form the basis of my lit-list.

The summer time is coming, the time of holidays and good mood, when you really want to please yourself for the hard and long winter, full of accomplishments and serious thoughts. I want to read something “for the soul”, get pleasure from it and a little bit of benefit.

1. Evgeny Chizhov "Translation from interlinear"

And what would have happened if the USSR had not collapsed?

How often this question becomes the cause of disputes and quarrels.

The author built his own model of the USSR, created a miniature country in Central Asia- Koshtyrbastan. He put the People's Leader on the throne and surrounded him with an entourage of "state" criminals, night "funnel", fear and general worship.

But one wrongly spoken phrase ... and our hero fell into the millstones of the system.

The country is fictional, and everything in it is so real that you begin to doubt - is it fiction?

2. Augustus Brown "Why the panda stands on its head and other amazing stories about animals"

“Experiments have shown that hamsters also develop cravings for the green snake, but their resistance to alcohol (in terms of unit weight) is 40 times higher than that of humans. If a person had the fortitude of a hamster, he could drink daily - without any visible manifestations - a case of wine. But from excessive doses of alcohol, hamsters, like people, become aggressive.”

This wonderful book can be opened at any page and boldly begin to be surprised. If you love amazing animal facts, then this book is for you.

And sometimes you wonder if we are so different from animals or are we still the same field of berries?

3. Herman Koch "Dinner"

The book was translated into 21 languages, and in 2013 it sold a million copies.

What's the secret? She's just describing a family's dinner.

The younger brother is jealous of the older brother and is unable to control his aggression. The older brother is a candidate for prime minister, an egoist and a petty tyrant. And children kill homeless people, post a video of it on the Internet, and then blackmail each other.

Nothing so family?

But they can sit at a table next to you in a restaurant or be your friends.

4. Valery Panyushkin "The Rise of Consumers"

Most of us remember the electric trains that traveled from Moscow and smelled of sausage; everyone stood in lines and bought what they had to, just to buy. So this book is about us.

Valery Panyushkin is a journalist who worked in such well-known publications as Vedomosti, Snob, The New Times. For his column in Gazeta.ru he was awarded the Golden Pen of Russia. All this says a lot and, therefore, it will be a pleasure to read.

Why a couple of decades ago it was impossible to return low-quality goods, but now you can? Why "to learn how to choose a president, you must first learn how to choose a refrigerator"? What is consumerism and is it not a curse?

If you are interested, feel free to proceed and you will like it!

5. Maya Kucherskaya "Aunt Motya"

An amazing women's book. Written by a woman for women.

On the one hand, a standard ladies' romance - love, betrayal, passion, brief meetings in the car and at the apartment of friends, and nightly tears. On the other hand, the level of the text is much higher than the standard ladies' novel.

And if in such ordinary books the prince rides a white horse, or at least rides a white Mercedes, then here we see an ordinary life, an ordinary woman who is unhappy in marriage, who has a child and has a beloved man who is also firmly married.

Maybe the secret is precisely in such similarity to all of us?

6. Neil Gaiman "Nowhere (Outside)"

Did you know that entering the London Underground car, you can get to the feast of the violent Earl? And that under London there is another world full of magical creatures?

Did not know? And he is.

Richard Mayhew didn't know either, but one day he decided to help a stranger, and his life turned upside down...

What should be a book for summer reading - exciting, witty, light? AiF.ru introduces book novelties that are nice not only to take with you on vacation, but also to tell your friends about them.

Modern Russian prose

Vacation is a good time to catch up and read the unread. If you agree with this statement, then pay attention to the current books of contemporary Russian authors.

"Aviator" Evgeny Vodolazkin

Quote from the book: “In the life of a person, nothing is impossible - the impossibility comes only with death. And that's not necessary either."

The novel The Aviator, winner of the Big Book and Yasnaya Polyana awards, Yevgeny Vodolazkin, today ranks first in the ranking of the most popular books of the genre. fiction". And if you are not yet familiar with the current book of this season or the author, who is already called "Russian Umberto Eco", It's time to start reading the Aviator.

The hero of Vodolazkin's new novel is a man who woke up one day in a hospital bed and realized that he didn't remember anything. Now he has to restore bit by bit own life. The strangest thing is that the year 1999 is on the calendar, and his memories are limited to St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century.

"Faith" Alexander Snegirev

Quote from the book: "Having made a choice, you recognize the path, and any path leads in one direction."

This winter, Alexander Snegirev received the most prestigious Russian literary award, the Russian Booker, for his book Vera. His novel is a story about a simple woman named Vera and her unsuccessful search for a real man in modern Russia.

Despite the fact that the choice of the winner of the Russian Booker was unexpected for many, Snegirev's novel itself was definitely one of the most notable books of 2015. And those who have not yet had time to get acquainted with Vera, which reflects Russian reality, should hurry up and form their own opinion about it.

detectives

If you like to solve riddles, the detective genre is what you need. But keep in mind, psychologists say that detectives, like scientific books, are taken by those who, even on vacation, find it difficult to relax and need to maintain their usual level of tension.

"In the Service of Evil" Robert Galbraith

Quote from the book: “If you stop and look closely, beauty can be found almost everywhere, but when each new day is given with a fight, you somehow forget about this free luxury.”

Under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, none other than the author of the cult saga of Harry Potter is hiding. Joanne Rowling. In the Service of Evil is her third book and the final installment in her Cormoran Strike series. The “mother of Harry Potter” herself admits that “In the Service of Evil” is the only work that causes her the most terrible nightmares (in the process of working on the manuscript, Rowling had to re-read a bunch of police reports and stories about serial killers).

The adventures in the Service of Evil begin with the fact that Strike's assistant Robin receives a package with a severed female leg. Now detectives have to unravel the name of a terrible criminal.

Lontano Jean-Christophe Granget

Quote from the book: “It is only in the movies that the wife of a billionaire sleeps with a policeman - heroic and underpaid. In real life, she prefers to stay by her pool."

Book French journalist and writer Jean-Christophe Grange "Lontano" today is one of the most popular on Russian market. And the secret is not even in the name famous writer and a journalist or in his regalia, but that the author, as usual, came up with a top-notch thriller with complex and exciting intrigue.

This time in the center of the detective story is the family of the chief of the French police, which is subjected to daring attacks. What criminal is operating in France and why the blows fall on the family of the number one policeman is not so easy to guess, because Grange is famous for keeping readers in suspense until the very last page.

Memoirs and biographies

It has long been proven that reading memoirs and biographies satisfies not only people's interest in peeping through the keyhole, but also secret narcissism (we all unwittingly look for ideal images of ourselves or our loved ones in great people).

"Jackie Chan. I'm happy" Jackie Chan, Mo Zhu

Quote from the book: “I am an ordinary person who has the courage to do something extraordinary.”

This sincere book will be of interest not only to fans of Chan's talent, but also to everyone who likes works about courageous people who are not afraid to make and correct their own mistakes.

« Chicken bouillon For the Soul: 101 Best Stories" Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark

Quote from the book: “If you need to chop down a tree with an ax, and you will deal five strong blows on it daily, even the most a big tree falls to the ground."

The sale of the most anticipated summer series "Chicken Broth" starts in Russian bookstores. It is interesting that in 1993 this collection of small real stories no one wanted to publish in life, and by 2016, the book, which was rejected by 144 publishing houses, became one of the most successful projects in the history of book publishing.

The collection “Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Best Stories” is not called by chance - it contains a hundred poignant stories that can heal spiritual wounds and strengthen the spirit. The authors introduce readers to the most unexpected characters, among them a failed actress who finds true happiness after learning that she has cancer; the most beautiful girl of the city who falls in love with a hunchback after just two sentences, and a 13-year-old girl who sold 45,526 boxes of cookies to fulfill her mother's dream.

Love novels

The fashion for novels in the Fifty Shades of Gray format has finally passed, it's time to look for new books and discover the names of authors you don't know yet.

"After You" by Jojo Moyes

Quote from the book: “I doubt that happiness is exactly the thing that can be earned.”

At the end of 2015, a sequel to the world bestseller “Me Before You” was released in Russia, which still remains the leader in sales in the country's bookstores. A new book Jojo Moyes "After You" talks about what happened to the main character of the saga, Lou Clark, after the death of her lover.

As Moyes herself admitted, she was not going to write a sequel, but the work on the script for the film adaptation and the endless number of letters asking how Lou's later life turned out did not let her forget the heroes of the popular novel.

"Sorry..." Janusz Wisniewski

Quote from the book: "Some things remain in memory and cause appropriate associations only when they are correctly named."

One of the most popular writers of modern Poland and the author of one of the most reprinted romance novels, Loneliness on the Web, has written a new poignant story. "I'm sorry ..." Janusz Wisniewski is told from the perspective of a man who suddenly discovered his wife's betrayal. A man cannot forgive betrayal and becomes obsessed with a thirst for revenge.

It seems that this fantastic story is just a fiction of the author, but in fact the book is based on real events that took place in the early 1990s in Krakow: the popular jazz singer Andrzej Zaucha and his companion Zuzanna Leśniak were shot dead by a jealous husband. Vishnevsky not only retells this tragic story, he carefully examines the feelings of the characters.

If you suffer from insomnia, or just don't know what to do in the evening before going to bed, then start reading! But be careful, because some books are so interesting that you won't notice how the morning comes!

Photo: goodfon.ru

So, a list of fascinating books that will interest both "avid readers" and novice "book lovers":

"Come in large numbers", Narine Abgaryan

This is a tragicomedy about a young and ambitious girl who, at the beginning of the difficult 90s, decided to leave her native small mountainous republic and conquer the capital. And she immediately realized that every visitor, whom the author calls "come in large numbers", has his own Moscow. Someone sees it in the millions of people scurrying through the streets, and someone gets the opportunity to get close to such people. And some of them protect, protect, care for, help, support and just love. The author of the book talks about his small piece of the very "come in large numbers" life of a visitor, which many indigenous residents of big cities do not know about. And there is a place for feats in it, the most important of which is to decide to emigrate and accept a new place as it is, and sincerely love it. And then Moscow will certainly reciprocate.

The Collector, John Fowles

This is the debut story of the author, and for many it practically freezes the blood, because this is a real psychological thriller that excites the mind. The plot is the fate of two people connected with each other. He is a butterfly collector. There is a void in his soul, which he seeks to fill with beauty. And one day Ferdinand finds himself a wonderful victim - the girl Miranda. It is as if she was created in order to create and enjoy freedom. And he understands that he will give everything to possess her. And so, Miranda becomes a prisoner of Ferdinand. But can he keep within the walls of the castle real life, Beauty, Freedom and all the most beautiful that can be in the human soul?

The story is built on the subtle relationship of the victim and the villain and allows you to rethink many of the stories of world classics that seemed to have long been worn out.

"Forrest Gump", Winston Groom

This is the story of a mentally retarded guy, which he himself outlined on the pages of the legendary book that formed the basis of the film of the same name. The plot can be called practically the embodiment of the myth about the very american dream”, which disturbed the minds of millions of young people who lived in the second half of the last century. But at the same time, this is a sharp and even slightly cruel satirical parody of the society of that time, which was not ready to accept people who were somehow different from the main mass. Forrest Gump was different, and therefore became the object of ridicule. But this boy is not crazy at all. He is different, and he can see and feel what others cannot see and feel. He is special.

"Amsterdam", Ian McEwan

The author of the book is one of the representatives of the "elite" of modern British prose. And for a work that has become a real world bestseller, he received the Booker Prize. Victor Golyshev, who translated this creation into Russian, also got around to the award. It would seem that the story is simple and very relevant. But how many nuances are in it, how many thoughts, how many doubts! The main characters are two friends. One of them is a successful editor of a popular newspaper. The second is a brilliant contemporary composer who is writing the Millennium Symphony. And they enter into an agreement on euthanasia, under the terms of which, if one falls into a state of unconsciousness and ceases to understand what he is doing, then the other will take his life.

Amendment 22 by Joseph Heller

Although more than half a century has passed since the publication of the first book, this work is still legendary and one of the most popular, and many publications have included it in the list of the best novels.

This is not an ordinary story about US Air Force pilots who took part in World War II. All of them get into absurd situations, face awkward people and thoughtless actions, they themselves commit incomprehensible acts. And all this is connected with a certain amendment No. 22, which actually does not exist on paper, but says that every military man who does not want to perform a combat mission is quite normal and therefore fit for service. But in fact, in this story one can see not so much an anti-war novel as a deep and global mockery of modern everyday life, of society and the laws in force.

"Collusion of Dunces", John Kennedy Toole

The author of this book, who, by the way, lived to see the Pulitzer Prize for this creation, was able to create a literary hero, unlike any described in satirical literature. Ignatius J. Riley is creative, imaginative and eccentric. He fancies himself an intellectual, but in reality he is a glutton, a spendthrift and a quitter. He is similar to the modern Don Quixote or Gargantua, who despises society for its lack of geometry and theology. He is reminiscent of Thomas Aquinas, who launched his own hopeless war against everything and everyone: gay people, the excesses of the century, and even intercity buses. And this image is so interesting, unusual and, unfortunately, relevant that everyone can see a part of themselves in it.

"Monday Starts on Saturday" Strugatsky Brothers

This book is a real masterpiece of Russian science fiction, a kind of embodiment of the utopia of the Soviet era, a kind of artistic fulfillment of the dream of possibilities. modern man learn, create, learn and solve the mysteries of the universe.

The main characters of the book are employees of NIICHAVO (Research Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry). They are masters and magicians, real pioneers. And they will face many amazing events and phenomena: a time machine, a hut on chicken legs, a genie and even an artificially grown man!

"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

This book has become a real bestseller. This is a mysterious and fascinating story of the girl Rachel, who, from the train window, watches, as it seems to her, the ideal spouses. She even gave them names: Jason and Jess. Every day she sees the cottage of a man and a woman and understands that they probably have everything: well-being, happiness, wealth and love. And Rachel had all this, but not so long ago she lost all this. But one day, approaching the already well-known cottage, the girl realizes that something is going wrong. She sees frightening, mysterious and disturbing events that disturb her consciousness. And after that, the ideal wife Jess disappears. And Rachel understands that it is she who must solve this mystery and find a woman. But will the police take her seriously? And, in general, is it worth interfering in someone else's life? This is for the reader to find out.

The Book of Life: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

In the last months of his life, the old professor managed to make several important discoveries.

He realized that death is not the end at all. This is the beginning. And, therefore, dying is the same as preparing for something unknown and new. And it's not scary at all, but even interesting.

Before leaving for another world, the old man passed on such knowledge to everyone who was with him in the last minutes of his earthly life. What's next? Will we know it?

The Process, Franz Kafka

The author is one of the most beloved, mysterious, readable and popular writers of the last century. He managed to create a unique artistic universe in which everything is completely different from real life. She is sad, dreary and almost absurd, but incredibly and bewitchingly beautiful. Her characters constantly become participants in strange adventures, they are looking for the meaning of life and trying to get answers to questions that have been tormenting them for a long time. The novel "The Trial" is the work that will most clearly understand the mysterious nature of Franz Kafka's work.

"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

This book can be called strange, scary and incredibly attractive.

According to the plot, boys brought up in the best traditions find themselves on a desert island. The author told the readers a philosophical parable about how fragile the world is and what can happen to people who have forgotten about kindness, love and mercy. This is a dystopia with some symbolic overtones, which explores the behavior of children who find themselves in war time on a desert island. Will they be able to maintain humanity or will they obey natural instincts?

Rita Hayworth, or the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

The plot of this book is the story of a man whose horrible dream suddenly became a reality. He, innocent of anything, was thrown into prison, into a real hell, in which he will spend the rest of his life. And no one has been able to get out of this terrible place yet. But main character does not intend to give up and put up with what was destined for him by fate. He took a desperate step. But can he not only escape, but also get used to freedom and the new world, survive in it? By the way, this work of the real fantasy king Stephen King served as the basis for the film of the same name, which starred Morgan Freeman and Tim Robinson.

The events unfold in England in 1960. Jennifer Sterling wakes up after a terrible car accident and realizes that she cannot remember who she is, what happened to her. She does not remember her husband either. She would have continued to live in ignorance if, by chance, she had not found letters addressed to her and signed with the letter "B". Their author confessed his love to Jennifer and persuaded her to leave her husband. Further, the author takes readers to the XXI century. Young reporter Ellie finds one of the letters written by the mysterious "B" in a newspaper archive. She hopes that by taking up the investigation, she will be able to unravel the mystery of the author and recipient of the messages, restore her reputation and even sort out her own personal life.

“Lady with glasses with a gun in a car”, Sebastien Japrisot

The main character of the book is a blonde. She is beautiful, sentimental, sincere, deceitful, restless, stubborn and stupid. This lady, who has never seen the sea, gets into a car and tries to escape from the police. At the same time, she constantly repeats to herself that she is not crazy.

But people around here disagree. The heroine behaves more than strangely and constantly gets into ridiculous situations. She believes that wherever she is, she can be harmed. But if she escapes, she can be alone with herself and free herself from what she hides, from what worries her so much.

Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

The author has been writing this book for ten whole years, but it has become a real masterpiece. It talks about the fact that art has the power and power, and sometimes it can radically change and literally turn our lives upside down, and quite suddenly.

The hero of the work, 13-year-old boy Theo Decker, miraculously survived after the explosion that killed his mother. His father abandoned him, and he is forced to wander through foster families and completely strange houses. He traveled to Las Vegas and New York and almost despaired. But his only consolation, which, by the way, almost led to his death, is the masterpiece of the Dutch old master, which he stole from the museum.

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

This book is like a complex mirror maze in which seemingly completely different and unrelated stories echo, intersect and overlap each other in an amazing way.

In total, there are six main characters in the work: a young composer who is forced to sell his soul and body; 19th century notary; revealing a conspiracy big company a journalist working in California in the 70s of the last century; a clone servant working in a modern fast food business; a modern petty publisher and a simple goatherd living in the decline of civilization.

1984 George Orwell

This work can be attributed to the genre of dystopia, it describes a society in which a harsh totalitarian regime reigns.

There is nothing more terrible than the imprisonment of free and living minds in the fetters of social foundations.

"Blackberry Winter" Sarah Gio

Events unfold in 1933 in Seattle. Vera Ray kisses her little son before going to bed and goes to work at night in a hotel. In the morning, a single mother discovers that the whole city is covered with snow, and her son has disappeared. In a snowdrift near the house, Vera finds the boy's favorite toy, but there are no footprints nearby. A desperate mother is willing to do anything to find her child.

The author then takes readers to present-day Seattle. Reporter Claire Aldridge writes an article about a snowstorm that literally paralyzed the city. By chance, she learns that similar events have already occurred 80 years ago. Starting to explore the mysterious history of Vera Ray, Claire realizes that she is somehow mysteriously intertwined with her own life.

"Blindness" José Saramago

The inhabitants of a nameless country and a nameless city are facing a strange epidemic. All of them rapidly begin to go blind. And the authorities, in order to stop this incomprehensible disease, decide to introduce strict quarantine and relocate all the sick to the old hospital, taking them into custody.

The main characters of the work are an infected ophthalmologist and his wife pretending to be blind. They are trying to collect the world bit by bit and find order in this gradually embracing chaos.

“Three apples fell from the sky”, Narine Abgaryan

This book is the story of a small village, which is somewhere high in the mountains.

Its inhabitants are all a little grumpy, a little eccentric, but at the same time, real treasures of the spirit are hidden in each of them.

This is a witty, sublime and unusual dystopia about modern society consumption, which is programmed at the genetic level. And in this world, the sad story of the Savage is unfolding, whom the author regards as the Hamlet of our time. It still retains the remnants of humanity, but people divided into social consumption castes do not want to recognize it or simply cannot do it.

If we list noteworthy books by contemporary authors, then we cannot fail to mention the work “Social network “Kovcheg” by Evgeniy Vetsel which consists of three parts.

The main character falls from the roof, but is reborn again. Having lived a little in the XI century, he finds himself in the distant future - in the XXXVI century in Moscow. The author touches on many interesting devices, techniques of psychology and sales, modern reflections on life and reasons to seriously think about rhetorical questions. The second book describes life in America and the theory of one of the options for a worldwide conspiracy. And the third part tells about the adventures of the hero on another planet, where white angels live.

These were the most interesting books worth reading even for those who think they don't like to read. They will turn your views and even ideas about the world.

P.S. What books do you remember the most?