Books like 'Open City'
Readers who enjoyed Open City by Teju Cole also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological literary-fiction urban poc-mc university medical politics classics family
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Saturday by Oge Mora
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this warm and tender story by the Caldecott Honor-winning creator of Thank You, Omu!, join a mother and daughter on an up-and-down journey that reminds them of what's best about Saturdays: precious time together. Today would be special. Today would be splendid. It was Saturday! But sometimes, the best plans don't work out exactly the way you expect... -
![For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange]()
For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn celebration of its highly anticipated Broadway revival, Ntozake Shange’s classic, award-winning play centering the wide-ranging experiences of Black women, now with introductions by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and Broadway director Camille A. Brown... -
![Jabari salta by Gaia Cornwall]()
Jabari salta by Gaia Cornwall
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back... -
![Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt]()
Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"A brave and breathtaking musical... -
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![Another Country by James Baldwin]()
Another Country by James Baldwin
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadSet in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France, among other locales, Another Country is a novel of passions--sexual, racial, political, artistic--that is stunning for its emotional intensity and haunting sensuality, depicting men and women, blacks and whites, stripped of their masks of gender and race by love and... -
![I Hid My Voice by Parinoush Saniee]()
I Hid My Voice by Parinoush Saniee
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis is the story, based on fact, of a boy who couldn’t speak until the age of seven. Now twenty, he describes the events of his life.Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him "dumb... -
![The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse]()
The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA loving mother. A perfect family. A shock wave that could shatter everything. Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter... -
![Sabtu Bersama Bapak by Adhitya Mulya]()
Sabtu Bersama Bapak by Adhitya Mulya
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“Hai, Satya! Hai, Cakra!” Sang Bapak melambaikan tangan. “Ini Bapak. Iya, benar kok, ini Bapak. Bapak cuma pindah ke tempat lain. Gak sakit. Alhamdulillah, berkat doa Satya dan Cakra. … Mungkin Bapak tidak dapat duduk dan bermain di samping kalian. Tapi, Bapak tetap ingin kalian tumbuh dengan Bapak di samping kalian. Ingin tetap dapat bercerita kepada kalian... -
![Gonna Lay Down My Burdens by Mary Monroe]()
Gonna Lay Down My Burdens by Mary Monroe
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCarmen Taylor finds her life spinning out of control when her best friend Desiree begins dating Chester Sheffield, the man Carmen has loved for years, and when Desiree gets pregant with his child, Carmen commits a reckless crime of passion that forces he..Title: .Gonna Lay Down My Burdens..Author: .Monroe, Mary..Publisher: .Kensington Pub Corp..Publication Date: .2005/10/01..Number of Pages: .384... -
![The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck]()
The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Grapes of Wrath / The Moon Is Down / Cannery Row / East of Eden / Of Mice and... -
![Erasure by Percival Everett]()
Erasure by Percival Everett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Thelonious (Monk) Ellison has never allowed race to define his identity. But as both a writer and an African American, he is offended and angered by the success of We's Lives in Da Ghetto, the exploitative debut novel of a young, middle-class black woman who once visited "some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days... -
![Hunger for Life by Andy Marr]()
Hunger for Life by Andy Marr
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the day of his graduation, James says goodbye to the future and moves back to his parents’ house in Myreton, the sleepy village of his childhood. He’s not happy, but the thought of continuing his life anywhere else seems unthinkable while his sister, Emma, continues to suffer with the illness that’s plagued her since she was a child... -
![I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait]()
I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the author of the Waterstones Book of the Month Our Fathers comes a compelling domestic comedy about complex family dynamics, mental health and the intricacies of sibling relationships.For Alice and Hanna, saint and sinner, growing up is a trial. There is their mother, who takes a divide and conquer approach to child-rearing, and their father, who takes an absent one...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic family fiction contemporary mental-illness audiobook psychological -
![A Clean Well Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway]()
A Clean Well Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, first published in Scribner's Magazine in 1933; it was also included in his collection Winner Take Nothing (1933).James Joyce once remarked: "He [Hemingway] has reduced the veil between literature and life, which is what every writer strives to do. Have you read 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place'?... It is masterly...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction realistic university 20th-century audiobook book contemporary -
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![Shtum by Jem Lester]()
Shtum by Jem Lester
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPowerful, darkly funny and heart-breaking, Shtum is a story about fathers and sons, autism, and dysfunctional relationships.Ben Jewell has hit breaking point. His ten-year-old son Jonah has severe autism and Ben and his wife, Emma, are struggling to cope... -
![More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova]()
More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed... -
![What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt]()
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"What I Loved begins in New York in 1975, when art historian Leo Hertzberg discovers an extraordinary painting by an unknown artist in a SoHo gallery. He buys the work and tracks down the artist, Bill Wechsler, and the two men embark on a lifelong friendship... -
![The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse]()
The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat would you do if you learned that the life you lived was a lie? Nina McCarrick lives the perfect life, until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels.Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina quickly loses her life of luxury and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married... -
![The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand, and the Stories by Nella Larsen, Marita Golden]()
The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand, and the Stories by Nella Larsen, Marita Golden
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA light-skinned beauty who spends years passing for white finds herself dangerously drawn to an old friend's Harlem neighborhood. A restless young mulatto tries desperately to find a comfortable place in a world in which she sees herself as a perpetual outsider. A mother's confrontation with tragedy tests her loyalty to her race... -
![Drive Me Crazy by Eric Jerome Dickey]()
Drive Me Crazy by Eric Jerome Dickey
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe New York Times bestseller-now in trade paperback.Praised for his storytelling, New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey turns up the heat in his explosive new novel of the reckless desires that bind an irresistible woman to a desperate man-and the one wrong move that could destroy them both... -
![The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley]()
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA masterful, moving novel about age, memory, and family from one of the true literary icons of our time.Ptolemy Grey is ninety-one years old and has been all but forgotten-by his family, his friends, even himself-as he sinks into a lonely dementia... -
![Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson]()
Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the author of the internationally bestselling novels My Best Friend’s Girl and Marshmallows for Breakfast comes an incredibly moving, powerfully written new novel about motherhood, love, loss, and new beginnings. Nova will do anything for her closest friend, Mal, whom she has known since childhood... -
![Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai]()
Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe novella that first propelled Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan. Essentially the start of Dazai's career, Schoolgirl gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language. Now it illuminates the prevalent social structures of a lost time, as well as the struggle of the individual against them--a theme that occupied Dazai's life both personally and professionally... -
![The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark]()
The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLisa Genova meets 23andMe in this exploration of the genetic and emotional ties that bind, as debut author Julie Clark delivers a compelling read about a young boy desperate to find his place in this world, a mother coming to terms with her own past, and the healing power of forgiveness... -
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![The Joke by Milan Kundera]()
The Joke by Milan Kundera
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe authoritative version of the brilliant first novel by the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. A great novel of thwarted love and revenge miscarried, in a completely revised translation that is nothing less than the restoration of a classic... -
![Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi]()
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters switching places and committing insurance fraud to save one of their lives.Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront... -
![Open Secrets: Stories by Alice Munro]()
Open Secrets: Stories by Alice Munro
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn these eight tales, Munro evokes the devastating power of old love suddenly recollected. She tells of vanished schoolgirls and indentured frontier brides and an eccentric recluse who, in the course of one surpassingly odd dinner party, inadvertently lands herself a wealthy suitor from exotic Australia... -
![Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor]()
Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA world away from Brewster Place, yet intimately connected to it, lies Linden Hills. With its showcase homes, elegant lawns, and other trappings of wealth, Linden Hills is not unlike other affluent black communities. But residence in this community is indisputable evidence of "making it... -
![What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde]()
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNahid has six months left to live. Or so the doctors say. But Nahid is not the type to trust anyone. She resents the cancer diagnosis she has been given and the doctor who has given it to her. Bubbling inside her is also resentment toward life as it turned out, and the fact that it will go on without her. She feels alone, alone with her illness and alone with her thoughts... -
![Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris]()
Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe old South lives on at the MacGregor Plantation--in the breeze, in the cotton fields...and in the crack of the whip. It's an antebellum fever-dream, where fear and desire entwine in the looming shadow of the Master's House... -
![Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha]()
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic family fiction contemporary audiobook psychological coming-of-age -
![Scouting for the Reaper by Jacob M. Appel]()
Scouting for the Reaper by Jacob M. Appel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEach of the characters in Scouting for the Reaper faces an unanticipated challenge: transporting a truckload of penguins across the country, arranging a proper Jewish burial for the remains of Gregor Samsa, selling tombstones dressed as a Girl Scout. These stories explore the domestic and professional adventures of people in over their heads, while leavening their struggles with humor.Jacob M... -
![At the Waterfall by Smardline S.]()
At the Waterfall by Smardline S.
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo strangers. One cabin. A summer fling .Grief and fear aren’t strangers to Jake and Mia. Jake, a climber addicted to control, lives for the next thrill but avoids love at all costs.He has his Never sleeps with the same girl twice.No exchanging names.No staying over—can't risk anyone catching feelings.That is until he’s forced to share a cabin with princess and her no-noise-before-8-AM rule...Categorized as:
poc-mc black-mc literary-fiction romance contemporary multi-pov psychological fiction -
![Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig]()
Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSometimes they talk all night long. In the still darkness of their cell, Molina re-weaves the glittering and fragile stories of the film he loves, and the cynical Valentin listens. Valentin believes in the just cause which makes all suffering bearable; Molina believes in the magic of love which makes all else endurable... -
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![Rabbit at Rest by John Updike]()
Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWinner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In John Updike's fourth and final novel about ex-basketball player Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, the hero has acquired heart trouble, a Florida condo, and a second grandchild. His son and daughter-in-law are acting erratically, his wife Janice wants to work, and Rabbit is searching his soul, looking for reasons to live... -
![The Woman with the Bouquet by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Alison Anderson]()
The Woman with the Bouquet by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Alison Anderson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn his new collection of stories, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, author of The Most Beautiful Book in the World, probes the paradox that the events that shape our lives are often the stuff of dreams, yet nonetheless true. Humor, tenderness, irony and exquisite writing have always been the hallmarks of Schmitt’s work. Here, he adds a pinch of philosophy... -
![The Free by Willy Vlautin]()
The Free by Willy Vlautin
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAward-winning author Willy Vlautin demonstrates his extraordinary talent for confronting issues facing modern America, illuminated through the lives of three memorable characters who are looking for a way out of their financial, familial, and existential crises, in his heartbreaking and hopeful fourth novelLeroy Kervin is a 31 year old Iraqi War veteran living with a traumatic brain injury... -
![Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike]()
Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe triumphant collection of short stories by America's most acclaimed novelist...Categorized as:
classics family literary-fiction university adult anthologies audiobook contemporary -
![Sundog by Jim Harrison]()
Sundog by Jim Harrison
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA “feisty, passionate novel” (Newsday) from a writer whose “storytelling instincts are nearly flawless” (The New York Times). The New York Times–bestselling author of thirty-nine books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry including Legends of the Fall, Dalva, and Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison was one of our most beloved and acclaimed writers, adored by both readers and critics... -
![The Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis Wallant]()
The Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis Wallant
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNorman Moonbloom is a loser, a drop-out who can't even make it as a deadbeat. His brother, a slumlord, hires him to collect rent in the buildings he owns in Manhattan... -
![Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee]()
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA dazzling novel of two sisters and their emotional journey through love, loyalty, and heartbreakTwo Chinese-American sisters--Miranda, the older, responsible one, always her younger sister's protector; Lucia, the headstrong, unpredictable one, whose impulses are huge and, often, life changing. When Lucia starts hearing voices, it is Miranda who must find a way to reach her sister... -
![Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley]()
Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNick Naylor likes his job. In the neo-puritanical nineties, it's a challenge to defend the rights of smokers and a privilege to promote their liberty. Sure, it hurts a little when you're compared to Nazi war criminals, but Nick says he's just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage and put his son through Washington's elite private school St. Euthanasius... -
![Der Eismann kommt. Schauspiel in 4 Akten by Eugene O'Neill]()
Der Eismann kommt. Schauspiel in 4 Akten by Eugene O'Neill
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsEugene O’Neill was the first American playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He completed The Iceman Cometh in 1939, but he delayed production until after the war, when it enjoyed a modest run in 1946 after receiving mixed reviews. Three years after O'Neill's death, Jason Robards starred in a Broadway revival that brought new critical attention to O’Neill’s dark play... -
![The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata]()
The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLibrarian's note: An alternate cover of this ISBN can be found here.Ogata Shingo is growing old, and his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life - with his son, his wife, and his attractive daughter-in-law - are dissolving, and Shingo is caught between love and destruction... -
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![The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro]()
The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratings**Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature**The characters who populate an Alice Munro story live and breathe. Passions hopelessly conceived, affections betrayed, marriages made and broken: the joys, fears, loves and awakenings of women echo throughout these twelve unforgettable stories, laying bare the unexceptional and yet inescapable pain of human contact...Categorized as:
classics drama literary-fiction university 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary -
![The Best Girls by Min Jin Lee]()
The Best Girls by Min Jin Lee
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by a true event, this powerful short story from the author of National Book Award finalist Pachinko explores the meaning of patriarchy and the cost of female silence through the eyes of a dutiful young girl.An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth... -
![The Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle]()
The Small Rain by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMadeleine L'Engle's classic young adult books include A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Certain Women. The Small Rain, an adult novel, focuses on Katherine Forrester, the daughter of distinguished musical artists, whose career as a concert pianist evolves through loves and losses...Categorized as:
classics family literary-fiction urban book coming-of-age contemporary female-author -
![Staggerford by Jon Hassler]()
Staggerford by Jon Hassler
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is only a week in the life of a 35-year old bachelor school teacher in a small Minnesota town. But it is an extraodinary week, filled with the poetry of living, the sweetness of expectation, and the glory of surprise that can change a life forever... -
![Life Without Summer: A Novel by Lynne Griffin, Tanya Eby]()
Life Without Summer: A Novel by Lynne Griffin, Tanya Eby
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTessa Gray’s life changes forever when she loses her four-year-old daughter, Abby, in a hit-and-run accident outside her preschool. Once a vivacious, joyful mother and wife, Tessa now spends her days holed up in Abby’s room, sleeping in her bed, clutching Abby’s Tootsie Rabbit stuffed animal—anything to keep her memories close... -
!['night, Mother by Marsha Norman]()
'night, Mother by Marsha Norman
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 24 ratings'night, Mother is a taut and fluid drama that addresses different emotions and special relations. By one of America's most talented playwrights, this play won the Dramatists Guild's prestigious Hull-Warriner Award, four Tony nominations, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1983...
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