Books like Bel Canto
12 books with a reading profile close to Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Inward-looking; a moderate read.
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1
Either/Or
by Elif Batuman
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Set in 1996, the story follows Selin Karadağ during her sophomore year at Harvard as she attempts to construct a life based on aesthetic and literary principles.
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2
The Berry Pickers
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
In 1962, a four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl named Ruthie vanishes from a blueberry field in Maine while her family works the harvest.
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3
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, secures a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, an executive at Lehman Brothers.
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4
The Imperfectionists
by Tom Rachman
narrative, accessible
Set in the fading era of print media, this novel follows the daily lives of expatriate staff at an English-language newspaper in Rome.
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5
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
narrative, accessible
In 1972, workers digging a foundation in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, discover a skeleton at the bottom of a well.
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6
Infinite Country
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
The narrative follows Elena and Mauro, a Colombian couple who overstay their visas in the United States, and the three children they raise across two nations.
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7
Migrations
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Franny Stone travels to Greenland to track the final migration of Arctic terns, a species nearing extinction in a world depleted of wildlife.
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8
Commonwealth
by Ann Patchett
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
The story begins at a 1960s christening party in Southern California, where a chance kiss between Bert Cousins and Beverly Keating leads to the dissolution of two marriages.
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9
Fleishman Is in Trouble
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Toby Fleishman is a forty-one-year-old hepatologist navigating the immediate aftermath of a bitter divorce in Manhattan.
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10
Wonder Boys
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Grady Tripp, a middle-aged English professor in Pittsburgh, wrote a successful novel years ago and has spent seven years trying to finish a second one, which has grown to thousands of pages.
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11
Black Cake
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
After the death of Eleanor Bennett, her estranged children, Byron and Benny, reunite in California to hear her final recorded message.
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12
Writers & Lovers
by Lily King
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
Set in 1997 Massachusetts, the narrative follows Casey Peabody, a thirty-one-year-old waitress mourning her mother’s sudden death while struggling to finish a novel she has worked on for six years.
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