Books like

Books like Dept. of Speculation

12 books with a reading profile close to Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. Inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Freshwater

by Akwaeke Emezi

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

Adaeke Emezi’s debut novel focuses on Ada, a young Nigerian woman born with fractured consciousness.
2

Surfacing

by Margaret Atwood

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

An unnamed female protagonist returns to her childhood home on a desolate island in northern Quebec to investigate her father's unexplained disappearance.
3

The Vegetarian

by Han Kang

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

Yeong-hye, a South Korean housewife, suddenly stops eating meat after a series of visceral, bloody dreams.
4

Homesick for Another World

by Ottessa Moshfegh

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

Ottessa Moshfegh’s short story collection tracks the internal lives of social outcasts, addicts, and neighborhood creeps inhabiting gritty urban landscapes and neglected suburbs.
5

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

by Max Porter

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

In a London flat, a structural linguist and his two young sons struggle to function following the sudden death of the boys’ mother.
6

Asterios Polyp

by David Mazzucchelli

Also thought-provoking · psychology, literary

Asterios Polyp is a high-concept architect who has never seen one of his blueprints actually constructed.
7

No Longer Human

by Junji Ito, Osamu Dazai

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

Yozo Oba lives behind a literal and figurative mask, faking a persona of a cheerful clown to hide his profound alienation from the human race.
8

Normal People By Sally Rooney & Milkman By Anna Burns 2 Books Collection Set

by Sally Rooney, Anna Burns

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

This collection brings together two distinct portraits of Irish life and social pressure.
9

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

by Ottessa Moshfegh

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

Set in New York City during the year 2000, the narrative follows an unnamed narrator who decides to hibernate for an entire year.
10

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer

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

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell discovers a key in a blue vase belonging to his father, who died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
11

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

by Karen Joy Fowler

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

Rosemary Cooke begins her college years by narrating her family's collapse, a disintegration sparked by the disappearance of her sister Fern and her brother Lowell.
12

In the Dream House

by Carmen Maria Machado

Also inward-looking and open-ended · psychology, literary

In this memoir, Carmen Maria Machado documents her experience in a psychologically and physically abusive same-sex relationship.

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