Books like

Books like Life of Pi

12 books with a reading profile close to Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Tenar, once a high priestess and now a widow, lives a quiet life farming on the island of Gont until she adopts Therru, a girl severely burned and scarred by her own family.
2

Momo

by Michael Ende

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Michael Ende's 'Momo' is a captivating allegorical fantasy that tells the story of a mysterious little girl named Momo who possesses the unique ability to listen.
3

The Buried Giant

by Kazuo Ishiguro

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

In post-Arthurian Britain, an elderly couple named Axl and Beatrice depart their village to search for a son they barely remember.
4

The Farthest Shore

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, literary

In Earthsea, magic is failing as equilibrium gives way to a sterile void.
5

The Tiger's Wife

by Téa Obreht

Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Set in a nameless Balkan country recovering from war, the narrative follows Natalia, a young doctor on a mission to deliver medicine to an orphanage.
6

Women Talking

by Miriam Toews

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Based on real events in the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia, this novel centers on eight Mennonite women meeting secretly in a hayloft.
7

The Solitaire Mystery

by Jostein Gaarder

Also deep · philosophy, narrative

Hans Thomas travels with his father from Norway to Greece to find his long-lost mother.
8

Kafka on the Shore

by Haruki Murakami

Also deep and open-ended · philosophy, narrative

The narrative follows fifteen-year-old Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home to escape an Oedipal curse prophesied by his father.
9

The Children Act

by Ian McEwan

Also deep and thought-provoking · philosophy, narrative

High Court judge Fiona Maye presides over the Family Division in London, where she adjudicates cases involving medical ethics and religious freedom.
10

The Book of Form and Emptiness

by Ruth Ozeki

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Following the sudden death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear the voices of inanimate objects.
11

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

by Annie Dillard

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Annie Dillard uses her home in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley as an observatory to document the biological mechanics of the natural world.
12

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Set in a luxury Parisian apartment building, the story follows Renée Michel, a fifty-four-year-old concierge who hides her deep knowledge of Kant, Tolstoy, and art behind a facade of working-class dullness.

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