Books like

Books like Hell of a Book

12 books with a reading profile close to Hell of a Book by Jason Mott. Deep, inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

The Sentence

by Louise Erdrich

Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, literary

Tookie, an Ojibwe woman who survived an unusual incarceration, works at a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis.
2

Brick Lane

by Monica Ali

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

Nazneen is seventeen when she leaves a village in Bangladesh for an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man more than twenty years older, in a London housing estate in Tower Hamlets.
3

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.
4

BRAWLER

by Lauren Groff

Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, literary

This short story collection tracks people navigating the friction between their internal desires and the physical environments of modern Florida and historical Europe.
5

Swing Time

by Zadie Smith

Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, literary

Two brown girls in a London council estate meet at a dance class in the 1980s.
6

The little disturbances of man

by Grace Paley

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

Set in the cramped apartments and bustling streets of mid-century New York City, these short stories focus on the domestic lives of Jewish women navigating family friction and romantic disappointment.
7

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

by Sherman Alexie

Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, literary

Sherman Alexie's linked stories follow Native American characters on and around the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State.
8

Arcadia

by Lauren Groff

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Bit Arcadia is born in a commune in upstate New York in the 1970s, the first child born there.
9

Dream Count

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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.
10

Inseparable

by Simone de Beauvoir

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

This autobiographical novel tracks the intense friendship between Sylvie and Andrée, fictionalized versions of Simone de Beauvoir and Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin.
11

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales

by Margaret Atwood

Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Margaret Atwood's 2014 collection gathers nine stories about aging, grudges and the lingering consequences of old choices.
12

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · 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.

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