Books like

Books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower

12 books with a reading profile close to The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Stephen Chbosky. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; an easy read.

  1. 1 We Are Okay

    We Are Okay

    by Nina LaCour

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Marin leaves her California life behind without a word, fleeing to a New York college dormitory to spend winter break alone.

  2. 2 Almond

    Almond

    by Sohn Won-Pyung

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Yunjae is born with alexithymia, a neurological condition caused by underdeveloped amygdalae that prevents him from feeling fear, anger, or affection.

  3. 3 Dear Edward

    Dear Edward

    by Ann Napolitano

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Twelve-year-old Edward Adler is the sole survivor of a commercial plane crash that kills 191 people, including his parents and older brother.

  4. 4 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

    Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

    by Gail Honeyman

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Eleanor Oliphant lives a life of rigid, isolated routine in Glasgow, working as a finance clerk and spending weekends with frozen pizza and vodka.

  5. 5 The Solitude of Prime Numbers

    The Solitude of Prime Numbers

    by Paolo Giordano

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Alice and Mattia first meet as teenagers in an Italian town.

  6. 6 Speak

    Speak

    by Laurie Halse Anderson

    Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible

    Melinda Sordino enters her freshman year at Merryweather High School as an outcast.

  7. 7 Tell the Wolves I'm Home

    Tell the Wolves I'm Home

    by Carol Rifka Brunt

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Fourteen-year-old June Elbus struggles to navigate a world that feels increasingly narrow after the death of her uncle, Finn Weiss, a renowned painter who dies from AIDS in 1987.

  8. 8 Turtles All the Way Down

    Turtles All the Way Down

    by John Green

    Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible

    Sixteen-year-old Aza Holmes lives within the tightening spiral of her own intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.

  9. 9 Still Alice

    Still Alice

    by Lisa Genova

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, accessible

    Alice Howland is a fifty-year-old linguistics professor at Harvard whose life centers on the mastery of language and cognitive performance.

  10. 10 The Most Fun We Ever Had

    The Most Fun We Ever Had

    by Claire Lombardo

    Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible

    The story spans several decades, tracking Marilyn and David Sorenson and their four adult daughters in suburban Chicago.

  11. 11 A Woman Is No Man

    A Woman Is No Man

    by Etaf Rum

    Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible

    In 1990 Palestine, Fareeda forces eighteen-year-old Isra into an arranged marriage that moves her to Brooklyn.

  12. 12 The Silver Linings Playbook

    The Silver Linings Playbook

    by Matthew Quick

    Also inward-looking · narrative, accessible

    Pat Peoples returns to his parents’ home in New Jersey after months in a psychiatric facility.

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