Books like

Books like Another Brooklyn

12 books with a reading profile close to Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Pearl Tull is abandoned by her husband Beck and raises three children, Cody, Ezra and Jenny, in Baltimore on her own, with a mix of strictness and bitterness.
2

Dream Count

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The novel centers on Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in America during the pandemic, as she examines the intersections of her past romances and her current desires.
3

French Braid

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The Garrett family of Baltimore are followed over several decades, starting in 1959 when Mercy and David Garrett go on a family vacation to a lakeside spot.
4

The Kitchen God's Wife

by Amy Tan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Winnie Louie has kept her past secret from her Chinese American daughter, Pearl, who in turn is hiding her own diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
5

We the Animals

by Justin Torres

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Three brothers, the youngest of whom narrates, grow up in upstate New York with a Puerto Rican father and a white mother who love them fiercely and also hurt them.
6

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

by Kate Atkinson

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Ruby Lennox begins her story at the moment of her conception in 1951 in York, and narrates her family's history through her own eyes.
7

The Thing Around Your Neck

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 collection consists of twelve stories documenting the experiences of Nigerians navigating life in their home country and as immigrants in the United States.
8

So Late in the Day

by Claire Keegan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

On a bright Friday in Dublin, Cathal sits at his office desk counting down the hours until the workday ends.
9

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

by Deesha Philyaw

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Deesha Philyaw’s short story collection centers on the private lives of Black women navigating the tension between traditional Christian morality and their own physical desires.
10

Nocturns

by Kazuo Ishiguro, Albert Torrescasana Flotats

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Nocturns is a collection of five interconnected short stories centered on musicians and the professional anxieties of the creative life.
11

And the Mountains Echoed

by Khaled Hosseini

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The narrative begins in 1952 in the Afghan village of Shadbagh, centered on the separation of two siblings, Pari and Abdullah.
12

Inseparable

by Simone de Beauvoir

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

This autobiographical novel tracks the intense friendship between Sylvie and Andrée, fictionalized versions of Simone de Beauvoir and Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin.

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