Books like

Books like The Book of Embraces

12 books with a reading profile close to The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Galeano. Deep, inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

1

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

Also deep and inward-looking · 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.
2

Daytripper

by Fábio Moon

Also inward-looking and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Brás de Oliva Domingos writes obituaries for a Brazilian newspaper while living in the shadow of his famous novelist father.
3

Women Talking

by Miriam Toews

Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

Based on real events in the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia, this novel centers on eight Mennonite women meeting secretly in a hayloft.
4

The Dharma Bums

by Jack Kerouac

Also inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

Ray Smith, a fictionalized version of Kerouac, navigates the contrast between urban jazz parties and the solitude of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
5

Desert Solitaire

by Edward Abbey

Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Edward Abbey recounts his seasons as a seasonal ranger at Arches National Monument in the late 1950s.
6

The Book of Form and Emptiness

by Ruth Ozeki

Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

Following the sudden death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear the voices of inanimate objects.
7

Sweet Bean Paste

by Durian Sukegawa

Also inward-looking and contemplative · philosophy, narrative

Sentaro runs a tiny dorayaki shop, selling pancakes filled with sweet bean paste, and he is stuck in a life he did not choose, having served a prison sentence.
8

The Children Act

by Ian McEwan

Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

High Court judge Fiona Maye presides over the Family Division in London, where she adjudicates cases involving medical ethics and religious freedom.
9

The Zahir

by Paulo Coelho

Also inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

Esther, a war correspondent, is married to a celebrated novelist, the narrator, who is living comfortably in Paris.
10

The Witch of Portobello

by Paulo Coelho

Also inward-looking · philosophy, narrative

Athena is a woman born in Romania to a Roma mother, adopted as a baby by a Lebanese couple, and raised partly in Beirut and later in London.
11

Three Daughters of Eve

by Elif Shafak

philosophy, narrative

Peri is an Istanbul housewife in her thirties, married with a child, who is at a dinner party when a mugger takes her bag and she chases him.
12

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.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.