Books like Commonwealth
12 books with a reading profile close to Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
The Magician's Assistant
by Ann Patchett
Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible
Sabine, a magician's assistant, has spent twenty years working with Parsifal, a gay magician, and living with him in Los Angeles.
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2
The Berry Pickers
Also inward-looking and contemplative · 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
Detransition, Baby
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible
The story centers on Reese, a trans woman in New York whose life is stalled by self-destruction and a lack of traditional domestic paths.
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4
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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5
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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6
Migrations
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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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7
Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett
Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible
In a nameless South American country, a lavish birthday party for Japanese mogul Katsumi Hosokawa ends in a prolonged hostage crisis.
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8
Black Cake
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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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9
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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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10
Infinite Country
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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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11
Red at the Bone
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible
The narrative begins at a 2001 debutante ball in a Brooklyn brownstone, celebrating the sixteenth birthday of Melody.
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12
Was man von hier aus sehen kann
by Mariana Leky
Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible
Luise, a ten-year-old girl in a small village in the German Westerwald, learns that whenever her grandmother Selma dreams of an okapi, someone in the village will die within twenty-four hours.
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