Books like The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
12 books with a reading profile close to The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. Open-ended and thought-provoking; an easy read.
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1
The Strange Library
Also open-ended · accessible, literary
A boy stops at the municipal library on his way home from school to return some books and ends up in a windowless basement reading room.
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2
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3
Faeries
by Brian Froud
accessible, literary
Brian Froud and Alan Lee present a biological and historical survey of the inhabitants of the British Isles’ invisible realms.
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4
Higglety pigglety pop! ; and, Where the wild things are
by Maurice Sendak, Oliver Knussen
accessible, literary
This volume contains the librettos and production designs for two operas based on Maurice Sendak’s picture books.
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5
Bliss Montage
by Ling Ma
Also thought-provoking · literary, experimental
Ling Ma’s collection contains eight stories where the surreal intersects with the mundane.
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6
Interior Chinatown
by Charles Yu
Also open-ended and thought-provoking · literary, experimental
Interior Chinatown follows Willis Wu, a background actor trapped in the repetitive hierarchy of a procedural television show titled Black and White.
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7
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory
accessible, literary
This short story collection presents surreal scenarios as metaphors for the complexities of modern intimacy.
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8
Flotsam
accessible, literary
A science-minded boy beachcombing for washed-up treasures finds an encrusted, antique underwater camera.
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9
Assembly
Also open-ended and thought-provoking · literary, experimental
In this concise novel, an unnamed Black British woman prepares for a weekend party at her white boyfriend’s family estate.
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10
Pastoralia
Also thought-provoking · literary, experimental
George Saunders' collection mixes satire, dark comedy and surreal settings, with working-class characters who struggle against a strange economy.
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11
Notes of a Dirty Old Man
literary, experimental
In the late 1960s, Charles Bukowski wrote a weekly column for the underground newspaper Open City in Los Angeles, and this book collects those pieces.
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12
Mercy
by Jodi Picoult
Also thought-provoking · accessible, literary
Cam MacDonald is a police chief in a small Massachusetts town, and he is happily married to his wife Allie.
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