Books from Russia
73 popular russian books
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
The target of the Read Around The World Challenge is to read at least one book written by an author from each and every country in the world.
All books that are listed here as part of the "Read Around Europe Challenge" were written by authors from Russia.
Find a great book for the next part of your reading journey around the world from this book list. The following popular books have been recommended so far.
52.
The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy EN
Description:
This 1862 novel, in a vibrant new translation by Peter Constantine, is Tolstoy’s semiautobiographical story of young Olenin, a wealthy, disaffected Muscovite who joins the Russian army and travels to the untamed frontier of the Caucasus in search of a more authentic life. While striving to adopt the rough and ready lifestyle of the local Cossacks, Olenin falls in love with a free-spirited girl whose fiancé turns out to be a formidable opponent. Showcasing the philosophical insight that would characterize Tolstoy’s later masterpieces, this long overdue translation is a revelation.
53.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy EN
Description:
Hailed as one of the world's supreme masterpieces on the subject of death and dying, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the story of a worldly careerist, a high court judge who has never given the inevitability of his death so much as a passing thought. But one day death announces itself to him, and to his shocked surprise he is brought face to face with his own mortality. How, Tolstoy asks, does an unreflective man confront his one and only moment of truth? This short novel was the artistic culmination of a profound spiritual crisis in Tolstoy's life, a nine-year period following the publication of ... continue
55.
The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine : A Novel by Alina Bronsky EN
Description:
“In this acidly funny novel” of life in Soviet Russia, “a cruel comic romp ends as a surprisingly winning story of hardship and resilience” (The New Yorker). A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A German Book Award Finalist A Huffington Post and Wall Street Journal Favorite Read of the Year When Rosa Achmetowna discovers that her seventeen-year-old daughter, Sulfia, is pregnant, she tries every bizarre home remedy there is to thwart the pregnancy. But despite her best efforts, the baby girl Aminat is born—and immediately wins Rosa’s heart. The dark-eyed Aminat is a Tartar through and thro... continue
56.
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky EN
Description:
Returning to Russia from a sanitarium in Switzerland, the Christ-like epileptic Prince Myshkin finds himself enmeshed in a tangle of love, torn between two women—the notorious kept woman Nastasya and the pure Aglaia—both involved, in turn, with the corrupt, money-hungry Ganya. In the end, Myshkin’s honesty, goodness, and integrity are shown to be unequal to the moral emptiness of those around him. In her revision of the Garnett translation, Anna Brailovsky has corrected inaccuracies wrought by Garnett’s drastic anglicization of the novel, restoring as much as possible the syntactical structure... continue
57.
The Keepers of Limbo (The Range-1) : LitRPG Series by Yuri Ulengov EN
Description:
Yesterday Altai was a war hero. Today he is a prisoner who chose exile to Rhapsody instead of death. This planet, the Range, knows no mercy. Here, thousands of prisoners fight each other for a place under the strange, cold sun. Here, the leftover alien biomechanisms and out-of-control Terran war machines roam in the ruins, and human life is measured in virtual experience that can be exchanged for armor and implants. Surviving in the Limbo slaughterhouse, upgrading to the tenth level and getting into the Green Zone is all any dead man can hope for. Except not everyone succeeds. Altai will have ... continue
58.
The Milkman in the Night by Andrey Kurkov EN
Description:
Semyon is disturbed. He has woken up in the living room with blood on his shirt, an angry wife and no idea where he was the night before. After waking to find his boots and overcoat damp on several mornings in a row, Semyon realises his excursions are a nightly occurrence.
59.
The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann EN
Description:
One of six beloved Christmas classics in collectible hardcover editions Written in 1816 by one of the leaders of German Romanticism for his children, nephews, and nieces, The Nutcracker captures better than any other story a child’s wonder at Christmas. The gift of a handsomely decorated nutcracker from a mysterious uncle sets the stage for a Christmas Eve like no other for the little girl Marie. That night, Marie’s extraordinary present comes to life, defends her from the taunting Mouse King, and whisks her off to the Kingdom of Dolls. The inspiration for the classic ballet, E. T. A. Hoffmann... continue
60.
The Orchard : A Novel by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry EN
Description:
Four teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. “Spectacular . . . intensely evocative and gorgeously written . . . will fill readers’ eyes with tears and wonder.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves. They spend their summers at Anya’s dacha just outside of Moscow, lazing in the apple orchard, listening to Queen songs, and ... continue