Books like 'The Mirror Maker: Stories and Essays'
Readers who enjoyed The Mirror Maker: Stories and Essays by Primo Levi also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical sc-fi 20th century ww2 industrial-era victorian literary-fiction
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The Emerald Brooch by Katherine Lowry Logan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDavid McBain can do the impossible with one hand tied behind his back... But miracles take him a wee bit longer. When retired Army Captain Kenzie Wallis-Manning receives a mysterious package containing an emerald brooch, she has no idea how life-altering the Gaelic inscription is until she's catapulted back in time to England in May of 1944... -
![The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut]()
The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNamed a Top 10 Best Book of 2023 by Publishers Weekly • a national bestseller • a New York Times Editor's Choice pick“A contemporary writer of thrilling originality . . . The MANIAC is a work of dark, eerie and singular beauty.” —The Washington Post“Darkly absorbing . . . A brooding, heady narrative that is addictively interesting... -
![Lieutenant Hornblower by C.S. Forester]()
Lieutenant Hornblower by C.S. Forester
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn this gripping tale of turmoil and triumph on the high seas, Horatio Hornblower emerges from his apprenticeship as midshipman to face new responsibilities thrust upon him by the fortunes of war between Napoleon and Spain...Categorized as:
industrial-era literary-fiction victorian 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book classics -
![Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer]()
Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsGifted with the ability to time-cross between Victorian-era London and World War II Washington, DC, Kathryn faces two lives fraught with danger. In 1938 amid the looming shadow of war, Kathryn is invited to the London Museum as a guest curator to create a groundbreaking exhibit on Jack the Ripper and his reign of terror...Categorized as:
industrial-era victorian ww2 romance historical-fiction christian time-travel historical -
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![The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov]()
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet in the vast windswept Central Asian steppes and the infinite reaches of galactic space, this powerful novel offers a vivid view of the culture and values of the Soviet Union's Central Asian peoples...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book classics fiction -
![Operation Easy Street by William Peter Grasso]()
Operation Easy Street by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPort Moresby was bad. Buna was worse.The WW2 alternative history adventure of Jock Miles continues as MacArthur orders American and Australian forces to seize Buna in Papua New Guinea. Once again, the Allied high command underestimates the Japanese defenders, plunging Jock and his men into a battle they’re not equipped to win... -
![The Day of the Scorpion by Paul Scott, Richard Brown]()
The Day of the Scorpion by Paul Scott, Richard Brown
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe second novel in The Raj Quartet: the arrest by British police of Mohammed Ali Kasim, who is known to sympathise with the Quit India movement, signifies a further deterioration in Anglo-India relations. For families such as the Laytons, who have lived and served in India for generations, the immediate social and political realities are both disturbing and tragic... -
![Complete Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Dave Eggers]()
Complete Stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Dave Eggers
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFeaturing five never-before-published Vonnegut stories!Here for the first time is the complete short fiction of one of the twentieth century’s foremost imaginative geniuses. More than half of Vonnegut’s output was short fiction, and never before has the world had occasion to wrestle with it all together... -
![Time Stranger: Time Travel Romance by Elyse Douglas]()
Time Stranger: Time Travel Romance by Elyse Douglas
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen a Bomb Strikes Single Mom Anne Billings and her young son in 1944 London, Anne is blown through time over half a century into the future. With the help of handsome Dr. Jon Miles, Anne desperately attempts to piece together her identity and return home... -
![Operation Fishwrapper by William Peter Grasso]()
Operation Fishwrapper by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJune 1944: A recon flight is shot down over the Japanese-held island of Biak, soon to be the next jump in MacArthur’s leapfrogging across New Guinea. Major Jock Miles, US Army—the crashed plane’s intelligence officer—must lead the handful of survivors to safety. It’s a tall order for a man barely recovered from a near-crippling leg wound... -
![Long Walk To The Sun by William Peter Grasso]()
Long Walk To The Sun by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this alternate history adventure set in WW2’s early days, a crippled US military struggles to defend vulnerable Australia against the unstoppable Japanese forces. When a Japanese regiment lands on Australia’s desolate and undefended Cape York Peninsula, Jock Miles, a US Army captain disgraced despite heroic actions at Pearl Harbor, is ordered to locate the enemy’s elusive command post... -
![To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis]()
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsConnie Willis' Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Doomsday Book uses time travel for a serious look at how people connect with each other. In this Hugo-winning companion to that novel, she offers a completely different kind of time travel adventure: a delightful romantic comedy that pays hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat...Categorized as:
industrial-era literary-fiction victorian ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh]()
A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘A Prophet Without Honor’ is that rare novel that provides a rich, entertaining and fully immersive reading experience, along with a resonant, thought-provoking subtext. Written in epistolary style and populated with interesting, fully-realized characters, the multi-general narrative is a seamless blend of authentic fact and sound speculation... -
![Indian Paintbrush by John A. Heldt]()
Indian Paintbrush by John A. Heldt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArizona, December 1943. After surviving perilous six-month journeys to 1889 and 1918, the Carsons, five siblings from the present day, seek a respite in their home state. While Adam and Greg settle down with their Progressive Era brides, Natalie and Caitlin start romances with wartime aviators and Cody befriends a Japanese family in an internment camp...Categorized as:
literary-fiction ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult book california coming-of-age -
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![Rapsodie der eenzaamheid by Agnar Mykle, Maurice Michael]()
Rapsodie der eenzaamheid by Agnar Mykle, Maurice Michael
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDutch translation of Lasso rundt fru Luna...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics fiction historical -
![R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury]()
R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsContents:Introduction · in R Is for Rocket [“King of the Gray Spaces”] · ss Famous Fantastic Mysteries Dec ’43 The End of the Beginning [“Next Stop: The Stars”] · ss Maclean’s Oct 27 ’56 The Fog Horn [“The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Jun 23 ’51 The Rocket [“Outcast of the Stars”] · ss Super Science Stories Mar ’50 The Rocket Man · ss Maclean’s Mar 1 ’51 The Golden...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children-books classics dystopia fiction -
![Firestorm by Taylor Anderson]()
Firestorm by Taylor Anderson
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker find themselves caught between the nation they swore to defend and the allies they promised to protect...Categorized as:
industrial-era ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history alternate-universe -
![All Clear by Connie Willis]()
All Clear by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Blackout, award-winning author Connie Willis returned to the time-traveling future of 2060—the setting for several of her most celebrated works—and sent three Oxford historians to World War II England: Michael Davies, intent on observing heroism during the Miracle of Dunkirk; Merope Ward, studying children evacuated from London; and Polly Churchill, posing as a shopgirl in the middle of the... -
![Hainish Novels & Stories, Vol. 1: Rocannon’s World / Planet of Exile / City of Illusions / The Left Hand of Darkness / The Dispossessed / Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin]()
Hainish Novels & Stories, Vol. 1: Rocannon’s World / Planet of Exile / City of Illusions / The Left Hand of Darkness / The Dispossessed / Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBeginning in the 1960s and 70s, Ursula K. Le Guin redrew the map of modern science fiction...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics female-author fiction historical -
![The Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin, Evgheni Vodolazkin]()
The Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin, Evgheni Vodolazkin
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom award-winning author Eugene Vodolazkin comes this poignant story of memory, love, and loss spanning twentieth-century Russia.A man wakes up in a hospital bed, with no idea who he is or how he came to be there. The only information the doctor shares with his patient is his name: Innokenty Petrovich Platonov... -
![Fighting Her Father's War: The FIghting Tomcats by M.L. Maki, Sofia Maki]()
Fighting Her Father's War: The FIghting Tomcats by M.L. Maki, Sofia Maki
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLieutenant Samantha "Spike" Hunt thought she knew what she was getting into when she transferred from flying radar planes into F-14 Tomcat fighters. But when her aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, travels back in time to 1941, she must not only fight for her right to fly the world's best fighter plane, she must also fight in the opening air battles of World War II... -
![Opening Moves by Colin Gee]()
Opening Moves by Colin Gee
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first of a series of books that cover World War Three, from July 1945 through to its close in September 1947... -
![Maid of Baikal by Preston Fleming]()
Maid of Baikal by Preston Fleming
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat if a Siberian Joan of Arc had rescued the White Armies at a critical point of the Russian Civil War in 1919? MAID OF BAIKAL offers an alternative outcome to that war through the intervention of Zhanna Dorokhina, a young woman from the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history book fiction historical -
![Begun by Time by Morgan O'Neill, Cary Morgan]()
Begun by Time by Morgan O'Neill, Cary Morgan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the final days of World War II, Catherine Hastings meets the man she wants to marry. Flight surgeon Jonathan Brandon isn't just handsome―he's everything Catherine could hope for in her betrothed. But her dream of a happily ever after is shattered when Jonnie vanishes before their wedding, leaving Catherine bereft, broken-hearted, and with a lifetime of unanswered questions... -
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![Gunslinger by Ed Dorn, Edward Dorn]()
Gunslinger by Ed Dorn, Edward Dorn
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDorn's high-spirited, crazy-quilt, complex anti-epic is a masterful critique of late twentieth-century capitalism and is one of the great comic poems of American literature... -
![His Name was Death by Rafael Bernal, Kit Schluter]()
His Name was Death by Rafael Bernal, Kit Schluter
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA bitter drunk forsakes civilization and takes to the Mexican jungle, trapping animals, selling their pelts to buy liquor for colossal benders, and slowly rotting away in his fetid hut... -
![Acts of War by James L. Young Jr.]()
Acts of War by James L. Young Jr.
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSomehow I doubt that this is quite how anyone expected Adolf Hitler's death to turn out...--Squadron Leader Adam Haynes, No. 303 (Polish) SquadronAugust 1942. London is in flames. Heinrich Himmler's Germany stands triumphant in the West, its "Most Dangerous Enemy" forced to the peace table by a hailstorm of nerve gas and incendiaries... -
![Sherlock Holmes in Orbit by Mike Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith]()
Sherlock Holmes in Orbit by Mike Resnick, Dean Wesley Smith
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAuthorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle, this brand-new collection of 26 Sherlock Holmes stories takes place in Holmes' own era, in our present time, and in the future. All the tales contain some science fiction or fantasy element, and all remain true to the spirit and personality of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous and enduring creation...Categorized as:
industrial-era victorian 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens alternate-history anthologies -
![The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories by Connie Willis]()
The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories by Connie Willis
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThis new collection of stories from the multi-award-winning author of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog contains:A Letter from the ClearysAt the RialtoDeath on the NileThe Soul Selects Her own SocietyFire WatchInside JobEven the QueenThe Winds of Marble ArchAll Seated on the GroundLast of the WinnebagosTen stories - which have all won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award or both - are...Categorized as:
literary-fiction ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens anthologies apocalyptic -
![Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson]()
Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMany people are not aware of a startling recommendation that was made by our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. He was sharply critical of the call for a "New World Order" made by President George H. W. Bush...Categorized as:
industrial-era literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure apocalyptic audiobook book christian -
![Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury]()
Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOne hundred classic stories from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451. In this, the first volume of Ray Bradbury's short stories, some of the author's finest works are published together, among them 'Homecoming', 'Veldt', 'A Sound of Thunder' and 'The Long Rain'...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies classics fiction hard-sci-fi -
![Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley]()
Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley by Robert Sheckley
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRobert Sheckley was an eccentric master of the American short story, and his tales, whether set in dystopic cityscapes, ultramodern advertising agencies, or aboard spaceships lighting out for hostile planets, are among the most startlingly original of the twentieth century...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies classics dystopia fiction -
![Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard]()
Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe classic, award-winning novel, made famous by Steven Spielberg's film, tells of a young boy's struggle to survive World War II in China.Jim is separated from his parents in a world at war. To survive, he must find a deep strength greater than all the events that surround him.Shanghai, 1941 — a city aflame from the fateful torch of Pearl Harbor...Categorized as:
literary-fiction ww2 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book classics coming-of-age -
![A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell]()
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSet in Italy during the dramatic finale of World War II, this new novel is the first in seven years by the bestselling author of The Sparrow and Children of God.It is September 8, 1943, and fourteen-year-old Claudette Blum is learning Italian with a suitcase in her hand... -
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![Polostan by Neal Stephenson]()
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first installment in Neal Stephenson’s three-part Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora... -
![Flatland / Sphereland by Edwin A. Abbott, Dionijs Burger Jr.]()
Flatland / Sphereland by Edwin A. Abbott, Dionijs Burger Jr.
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFlatland : the classic speculation on life in four dimensions; Sphereland : a continuing speculation on an expanding...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-universe book classics dystopia fiction -
![Frankly, My Dear by Sandra Hill]()
Frankly, My Dear by Sandra Hill
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLost in the Bayou...Selene has always had three great passions: men, food . . . and Gone With the Wind. Still, the glamorous model always seems to be starving for both nourishment and affection. Weary of the petty world of high fashion, she heads to New Orleans for one last shoot before she chucks it all and begins a whole new life...Categorized as:
industrial-era victorian 20th-century adult book fiction historical historical-fiction -
![Asylum Piece by Anna Kavan]()
Asylum Piece by Anna Kavan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis collection of stories, mostly interlinked and largely autobiographical, chart the descent of the narrator from the onset of neurosis to final incarceration in a Swiss clinic...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics female-author fiction historical -
![The General's Women by Susan Wittig Albert]()
The General's Women by Susan Wittig Albert
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDuring chaotic World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower had an intense hold on Kay Summersby, his Irish driver/aide. HIis wife Mamie felt the impact in far off Washington gossip. Points of view alternate between Kay, Ike, and Mamie. Feelings deepen when Ike and Kay move from England (1942) to North Africa (1942-43) to England, France, and Germany before and after the Normandy landing (1944-45)... -
![The Western Lands by William S. Burroughs]()
The Western Lands by William S. Burroughs
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe Western Lands is the eagerly awaited new novel by the most visionary American novelist of the twentieth century–a haunting Book of the Dead for the nuclear age.Every new work from the pen of William S. Burroughs is an important literary event. This is especially so in the case of The Western Lands... -
![Slaughterhouse 5 (Study Guide) by Ross Douthat]()
Slaughterhouse 5 (Study Guide) by Ross Douthat
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGet your A in gear! They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes(TM) has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles... -
![East Wind Returns by William Peter Grasso]()
East Wind Returns by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA young but veteran recon pilot in WW2 finds the fate of the greatest invasion in history—and the life of the nurse he loves—resting perilously on his shoulders. East Wind Returns is a story of WW2 set in July-November 1945 which explores a very different road to that conflict’s historic conclusion. The American war leaders grapple with a crippling setback: their secret atomic bomb does not work... -
![Fox at the Front by Douglas Niles, Michael Dobson]()
Fox at the Front by Douglas Niles, Michael Dobson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Third Reich has been routed...But the war is far from over. A new adversary is poised to attack on the eastern front.Former opponents George S. Patton and Erwin Rommel must join forces to neutralize the remnants of SS forces bent on carrying out the Reich's "Final Solution" in Eastern Europe... -
![A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis]()
A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJames Bond meets Maisie Dobbs in this riveting new historical caper series featuring a gifted young socialist-turned-counterespionage spy on a World War II mission orchestrated by Winston Churchill himself…1940: Weeks after the evacuation of Dunkirk, Germany is poised to invade a near-defenseless Britain... -
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![The Forgotten Pearl by Belinda Murrell]()
The Forgotten Pearl by Belinda Murrell
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Chloe visits her grandmother, she learns how close the Second World War came to destroying her family. Could the experiences of another time help Chloe to face her own problems? In 1941, Poppy lives in Darwin, a peaceful paradise far from the war... -
![BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley]()
BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsIt's the end of World War II. FDR's New Deal has redefined American politics. Taxes are at an all-time high. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has brought a fear of total annihilation. The rise of secret government agencies and sanctions on business has many watching their backs. America's sense of freedom is diminishing . . . and many are desperate to take that freedom back... -
![Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon]()
Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, this novel moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York, to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the Revolution, postwar Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places... -
![You Bright and Risen Angels by William T. Vollmann]()
You Bright and Risen Angels by William T. Vollmann
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIn the jungles of South America, on the ice fields of Alaska, the plains of the Midwest, and the streets of San Francisco, a fearsome battle rages. The insects are vying for world domination; the inventors of electricity stand in evil opposition. Bug , a young man, rebels against his own kind and joins forces with the insects... -
![White Lotus by John Hersey]()
White Lotus by John Hersey
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe story follows a young Arizona girl renamed White Lotus. As she ages, she evolves from “a bewildered, terrified slave to a conscious and intelligent revolutionary.” Her orchestrated, yet simple act of standing before her captors on one leg, head bowed like a sleeping bird becomes an often repeated act of nonviolent civil disobedience, an unconventional act in the spirit of Gandhi and Dr...Categorized as:
literary-fiction ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history anthologies classics -
![The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei]()
The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt is the late twenty-first century, and Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T City. Humanity has migrated to domes at the bottom of the sea to escape devastating climate change. The world is dominated by powerful media conglomerates and runs on exploited cyborg labor...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book cyberpunk dystopia feminism
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