Books like Luster
12 books with a reading profile close to Luster by Raven Leilani. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
Ghost World
Also inward-looking · narrative, literary
Set in a fading American suburb, the story follows Enid Coleslaw and Rebecca Doppelmeyer, two cynical teenagers drifting through the summer after high school graduation.
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2
Nightbitch
by Rachel Yoder
Also inward-looking · narrative, literary
An unnamed artist pauses her career to stay at home with her toddler, only to find the monotony and isolation of domestic labor triggering a physical mutation.
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3
Ripe
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Cassie works at Veda, a high-pressure tech company in Silicon Valley where she endures toxic corporate hierarchies and the skyrocketing cost of living.
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4
Death Valley
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
An unnamed narrator flees a Los Angeles hotel and her dying father’s bedside to seek isolation in the high desert.
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5
Milk Fed
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Rachel is a twenty-four-year-old assistant in Los Angeles who manages a strict cycle of calorie counting and punishing exercise to suppress her physical and emotional desires.
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6
Rejection
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Tony Tulathimutte’s story collection centers on the psychological mechanics of social and sexual exclusion in the internet age.
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7
Choke
Also inward-looking · narrative, literary
Victor Mancini works as a colonial reenactor at a historical theme park while running a high-stakes scam to fund his mother’s Alzheimer’s care.
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8
The Lover's Dictionary
Also inward-looking · narrative, literary
This novel constructs the history of a single romantic relationship through a sequence of dictionary entries ordered alphabetically.
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9
No One Belongs Here More Than You
by Miranda July
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Miranda July's debut collection brings together sixteen stories about lonely, odd and hopeful people.
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10
All Fours
by Miranda July
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
A forty-five-year-old artist abandons a planned cross-country drive from Los Angeles to New York, instead checking into a nondescript motel just thirty miles from her home.
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11
Open Throat
by Henry Hoke
narrative, literary
An unnamed mountain lion lives in the brush beneath the Hollywood sign, observing the human hikers and homeless residents of Los Angeles.
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12
The Water Cure
Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Grace, Lia, and Sky live on a remote island estate under the strict governance of their parents, King and Mother.
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