Books like We the Animals
12 books with a reading profile close to We the Animals by Justin Torres. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
Another Brooklyn
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
In the 1970s, August moves from Tennessee to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after the death of her mother.
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2
Acts of Desperation
by Megan Nolan
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
In Dublin, a twenty-something narrator becomes ensnared in a toxic relationship with Ciaran, an emotionally distant and beautiful man.
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3
God Help the Child
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Lula Ann Bridewell, who calls herself Bride, is a young woman with very dark skin, born to light-skinned parents who rejected her as a baby.
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4
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Ruby Lennox begins her story at the moment of her conception in 1951 in York, and narrates her family's history through her own eyes.
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5
Dream Count
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
The novel centers on Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in America during the pandemic, as she examines the intersections of her past romances and her current desires.
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6
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
by Anne Tyler
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Pearl Tull is abandoned by her husband Beck and raises three children, Cody, Ezra and Jenny, in Baltimore on her own, with a mix of strictness and bitterness.
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7
Wolf in White Van
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Sean Phillips is a man living with a severe facial disfigurement after a gunshot injury in his teens, and he spends his days alone in Southern California.
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8
French Braid
by Anne Tyler
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
The Garrett family of Baltimore are followed over several decades, starting in 1959 when Mercy and David Garrett go on a family vacation to a lakeside spot.
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9
The Kitchen God's Wife
by Amy Tan
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Winnie Louie has kept her past secret from her Chinese American daughter, Pearl, who in turn is hiding her own diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
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10
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Deesha Philyaw’s short story collection centers on the private lives of Black women navigating the tension between traditional Christian morality and their own physical desires.
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11
Drown
by Junot Díaz
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Drown is a debut short story collection told mostly by Yunior, who grows up between a poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic and the industrial towns of New Jersey.
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12
The Thing Around Your Neck
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 collection consists of twelve stories documenting the experiences of Nigerians navigating life in their home country and as immigrants in the United States.
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