Books like The Dictionary of Lost Words
12 books with a reading profile close to The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
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1
Fourteen Days
by Margaret Atwood, Douglas Preston
narrative, accessible
Set in a Lower East Side tenement during the early lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, this collaborative novel follows a group of neighbors who gather on their rooftop to exchange stories.
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2
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
narrative, accessible
Set in the rural English village of Edgecombe St.
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3
Scout, Atticus & Boo
narrative, accessible
Mary McDonagh Murphy chronicles the lasting influence of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird through a series of structured interviews with prominent writers, public figures, and Lee’s close associates.
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4
This Tender Land
narrative, accessible
In 1932, orphans Odie and Albert O’Banion flee the Lincoln School in Minnesota, a state-run institution where Native American children face systemic abuse.
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5
Rules of Civility
by Amor Towles
narrative, accessible
On New Year’s Eve in 1937, legal secretary Katey Kontent and her roommate Eve Ross meet a wealthy banker named Tinker Grey in a Greenwich Village jazz hole.
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6
The Island of Sea Women
by Lisa See
narrative, accessible
Set on the Korean island of Jeju, this novel follows the lifelong friendship between Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls who join a collective of haenyeo female divers.
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7
The Invention of Wings
narrative, accessible
The story follows Sarah Grimké, the daughter of a wealthy Charleston judge, and Hetty "Handful," the enslaved girl gifted to Sarah on her eleventh birthday.
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8
The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
narrative, accessible
In 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson returns to his foreclosed Nebraska farm after serving time at a juvenile work farm for involuntary manslaughter.
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9
Redhead by the Side of the Road
by Anne Tyler
narrative, accessible
Micah Mortimer is a fortyish self-employed tech specialist who functions through a rigid schedule and an obsession with household order.
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10
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
narrative, accessible
In 1972, workers digging a foundation in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, discover a skeleton at the bottom of a well.
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11
Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
narrative, accessible
The story follows two women whose lives intersect on a Nigerian beach during a violent encounter involving an oil company’s mercenaries.
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12
You Think It, I'll Say It
narrative, accessible
Curtis Sittenfeld's collection of ten stories looks at contemporary American relationships with a sharp, witty eye.
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