Books like Girls Burn Brighter
12 books with a reading profile close to Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
The Mighty Red
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Set in the Red River Valley of North Dakota during the 2008 financial crisis, the narrative centers on Kismet Poe, a teenager caught between two suitors: a star athlete and a fragmented loner.
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2
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
by Angie Cruz
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Set in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the narrative follows Cara Romero, a woman in her sixties who loses her factory job of twenty-five years.
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3
Red Clocks
by Leni Zumas
Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary
In a reimagined United States, the Personhood Amendment has abolished abortion, banned in vitro fertilization, and criminalized the transport of embryos.
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4
The Hotel New Hampshire
by John Irving
Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary
John Berry grows up in a family led by his father Win, an eccentric dreamer who buys a failing New Hampshire hotel and wants to turn it into a family business.
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5
The Wife
by Meg Wolitzer
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Joan Castleman has stood beside her husband Joe, a celebrated novelist, for decades.
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6
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7
God Help the Child
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Lula Ann Bridewell, who calls herself Bride, is a young woman with very dark skin, born to light-skinned parents who rejected her as a baby.
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8
Salvage the Bones
by Jesmyn Ward
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Set in the humid landscape of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, the narrative follows fifteen-year-old Esch and her three brothers during the twelve days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.
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9
The New Me
by Halle Butler
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Millie is a thirty-year-old temporary office worker in Chicago who cycles through administrative assignments while nursing a deep antipathy toward her coworkers.
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10
Dancing girls and other stories
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
This debut short fiction collection tracks the displacement of Canadian urbanites and expatriates navigating the social shifts of the 1970s.
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11
Colored Television
by Danzy Senna
Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Jane, a biracial novelist living in Los Angeles, struggles to finish her second book after a decade of labor.
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12
Drown
by Junot Díaz
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Drown is a debut short story collection told mostly by Yunior, who grows up between a poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic and the industrial towns of New Jersey.
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