Books like 'La Ménagerie de papier'
Readers who enjoyed La Ménagerie de papier by Ken Liu also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary fantasy urban fantasy magical-realism magic sad classics literary-fiction family crime
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Midlife in Gretna Green by Linzi Day
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt’s never too late to learn how to stand up for yourselfNiki McKnight has spent her entire adult life being bullied—first by her husband and then by her boss. Recently widowed, she’s in dire need of an extreme life makeover... -
Semi-Psychic Life by Elizabeth Hunter
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWho says you can’t live the rock and roll life after forty?You just need a lot more vitamins and a bigger bottle of aspirin.Valerie Costa was pretty sure she was rocking her forties. She had an amazing coffee shop, two cool teenagers, and a new superpower that gave her insight into any random object she touched.Okay, she wasn’t thrilled about that last one... -
Merry Witchmas by Amanda M. Lee
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s a Christmas from the past but the usual players aren’t all that different. Tillie Winchester is annoyed with the world – what else is new, right? – and she’s fraying under the pressure. Her nieces believe she’s a bad influence on the youngest Winchester generation – especially an acerbic Thistle – and they want her to set a good example... -
Wicked Brew: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short by Amanda M. Lee
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThistle Winchester is at her witchy wit’s end. Great-Aunt Tillie is selling wine at the curb of The Overlook – like it’s a lemonade stand – and her mother and aunts are about to burn someone at the stake. Unfortunately, it’s up to her and cousin Bay to put out the fire. When the two cousins take a stand, they’re interrupted by the arrival of an injured and dazed little girl... -
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Between Walls by W.R. Gingell
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsDon't get too close to humans.That's rule number one. Well, it is if you're an emotionally constipated fae lord. As far as I'm concerned, the vampire could do a better job of keeping his distance, but he's never been that good at following the rules.G'day. I'm Pet. Schrödinger's Pet, these days; depends who's asking... -
Тубурская игра by Max Frei
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsИз этой книжки читатель узнает так много тайн и секретов, что даже непонятно, как справится с этим бедная его голова. Новая книга знаменитого Макса Фрая о тубурских Мастерах Снов, их азартных играх и опасных сновидениях станет не только логичным финалом дружеских посиделок в "Кофейной гуще", в городе, который сам еще недавно был просто сном, но и началом чего-то нового...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism low-fantasy fantasy fiction audiobook urban-fantasy witches-wizards -
The Very Best of Charles de Lint by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt turns whimsical, dark, and mystical, this extraordinary collection of retold fairy tales and new, modern myths redefine the boundaries of magic. Compiling favored stories suggested by the author and his fans, this delightful treasury contains the most esteemed and beloved selections that de Lint has to offer...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism anthologies contemporary fiction indigenous-mc -
Storm Warrior: Age Of Magic - A Kurtherian Gambit Series by P.T. Hylton, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe greatest threat to the future comes from the secrets of the past. Abbey and her friends return home after their long journey west to find Holdgate threatened by both an enemy to the south and a hidden Barskall army to the east.Lucky for Holdgate, Abbey and the crew of The Foggy Day are more than ready to defend their home.But there’s an even greater threat to the city… one nobody sees coming... -
Pawsitively Secretive by Melissa Erin Jackson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNot all secrets are meant to be kept.After two stressful months, Amber Blackwood is determined to have a few weeks of peace before the Here and Meow Festival descends on her small town of Edgehill, Oregon. That peace doesn’t last long; when she and the committee attend a meeting at the mayor’s house, Amber is pulled aside by the mayor’s daughter, Chloe, who Amber babysat for in high school... -
Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles de Lint, Charles Vess
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWorld Fantasy Award-winning author of The Onion GirlThe city of Newford could be any contemporary North American city...except that magic lurks in its music, in its art, in the shadows of its grittiest streets, where mythic beings walk disguised. And its people are like you and me, each looking for a bit of magic to shape their lives and transform their fate... -
A Very Declan Christmas by Maggie Stiefvater
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"I’ve done a holiday short for the last few years. Here’s another one from the Raven Cycle universe... -
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsOrphaned, raised by wolves, and the proud owner of a horned pig named Merlin, Weylyn Grey knew he wasn’t like other people. But when he single-handedly stopped that tornado on a stormy Christmas day in Oklahoma, he realized just how different he actually was.That tornado was the first of many strange events that seem to follow Weylyn from town to town, although he doesn’t like to take credit...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure animals -
Fishing for the Little Pike by Juhani Karila
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWinner of the Jarkko Laine Literature Prize In the utterly original, genre-defying, English-language debut of Finnish author Juhani Karila, a young woman’s annual pilgrimage to her home in Lapland to catch an elusive pike in three days is complicated by a host of mythical creatures, a murder detective hot on her trail, and a deadly curse hanging over her head...Categorized as:
magical-realism magic literary-fiction low-fantasy fantasy fiction audiobook contemporary -
The Unlikely Heroes by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMagic is real. Most mortals are seeing it for the first time. Some don’t deal with change very well. There are a few mortals who have always seen the magic. Those are the ones Liv Beaufont is hunting down. They are potentially one of the Mortal Seven. Kayla Sinclair is also on the hunt. But she’s aiming to kill. It’s a race to find the Mortal Seven before they are murdered... -
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Shadow by Adrienne Woods
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsChastity Blake discovered the hard way what she was. A modern day Sandman. But things aren't looking up for Chastity. She is guarding a secret deep within her, her dark sand, or what Reverans would call, her Shadow. Shadow Casters are known for their dark dreams, the nightmares they create, and for Chastity landing up in the Oblivian with all the other Shadow Casters is so not on her list... -
Country Mage: A Slice of Life HaremLit Fantasy Adventure by Jack Bryce
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJames has always dreamed of a rustic life in the countryside, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. When he inherits a cabin in a charming little town, his dreams might just come true!But rustic isn’t boring! There are plenty of things for James to do... -
Promises to Keep by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter Widdershins, I thought I wouldn't write at length about Jilly again. I'd promised one more short story about her for Bill at Subterranean Press, but that would be it. Having left her in a good place at the end of Widdershins, I didn't want to complicate her life yet again, so I planned to set the story earlier in her life, during her first year as a student at Butler University...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary fairy-tale -
Baker's Coven by Nancy Warren
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCan she bake a winning cake without getting iced?Competition is hotter than the pre-heated ovens as The Great British Baking Competition moves into cake week. Amateur baker Poppy Wilkinson has a lot to deal with, from learning she has talents she never knew about, to trying to keep cool and bake under pressure.She’s also trying to track down the secrets of her parentage... -
The Dark Talent by Brandon Sanderson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsI, Alcatraz Smedry, proudly announce the last book of my autobiography, and was the hardest one for me to write. Because, in it—I’m not a hero. In fact, I’m the one who screwed everything up for everyone else.First off, my Talent for breaking things got a little out of hand, and I ended up destroying everyone else’s Talents... -
Muse and Reverie by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 21 ratings"Muse and Reverie "is an all-new collection of short fiction in Charles de Lint's "Newford" universe--the fifth such collection since 1993, and the first since 2002. Previous collections are "Dreams Underfoot," "The Ivory and the Horn," the World Fantasy Award-winning "Memory and Dream," and "Tapping the Dream Tree... -
Redwood by Mark Z. Danielewski
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Season One finale of this riveting multisensory masterpiece from the visionary author of House of Leaves... -
Genesis Academy: The Seer's Legacy by Barbara Hartzler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne day I’m the darling of the Guardians and the next our whole family is running for their lives.All because I saw my first premonition ever …Now they want me to go undercover at Genesis Academy, the Guardian’s school for rebels and rejects. Me—the goody-goody science nerd with the brand new powers. Oh, and I have to keep my budding Seer powers a secret. Too bad they manifest at the worst times...Categorized as:
magical-realism low-fantasy young-adult urban-fantasy fantasy paranormal fiction contemporary -
Sleight of Hand by Peter S. Beagle
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAbundant with tales of quiet heroism, life-changing decisions, and determined searches for deep answers, this extraordinary collection of contemporary fantasy explores the realms between this world and the next. From the top of the Berlin Wall to the depths of the darkest seas, gods and monsters battle their enemies and innermost fears, yet mere mortals make the truly difficult choices...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism adult anthologies contemporary epic -
A Red Heart of Memories by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMatilda "Matt" Black possesses the unique ability to speak with inanimate objects and witness the dreams of other people. Alone, yet never lonely, she s now found a kindred spirit in Edmund Reynolds a wandering witch of a spiritual quest to help those in need. Together, these two special people who live outside normal reality will embark on an odyssey of the imagination... -
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The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe much-anticipated new fantasy series from Ransom Riggs, his first since introducing the #1 global phenomenon Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series.Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone...Categorized as:
magic magical-realism low-fantasy fantasy young-adult fiction audiobook contemporary -
A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEver since her mother walked out, Trix McCabe has been determined to make it on her own. And with her near-magical gift for pulling valuables off unsuspecting strangers, Trix is confident she has what it takes to survive. Until she’s caught and given a choice: jail time, or go live with her long-lost family in the tiny town of Rocksaw, Kansas... -
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSharing stories we love with one another is one of the most magical forms of connection there is. This is especially so for Meigan, who develops an unexpected friendship with a mysterious borrower of books from her Little Free Library.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magic magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary female-author -
A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA thoughtful, uplifting and magical story of childhood, family and finding ways to change the inevitable . . .Meet Willa Waters, aged 8 . . . 33 . . . and 93.On one impossible day in.1965, eight-year-old Willa Waters receives a mysterious box containing a jar of water and the instruction: 'One ocean: plant in the backyard...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook -
Spiritwalk by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTamson House, in modern, urban Ottawa, is a rambling, eccentric curiosity of a house - and a place of hidden Power. Built at a point where the leylines meet, upon land that was once a sacred site, it is the gateway to a spirit-world where Celtic and Native American magicks mingle and leak into our own... -
Finder by Emma Bull
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAmerican Library Association Best Books for Young AdultsVOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & HorrorWelcome to Bordertown. A hybrid community of misfits, oddballs and runaways. Where humans, elves and halflings coexist. Where magic and the brutal realities of survival clash and mix. For Orient and Tick-Tick, it's just home. Death and dark magic hang over the city... -
Timeskipper by Stefano Benni
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of Margherita Dolce Vita One late-winter morning as he is "hop-hiking" downhill toward his character-building destination, a vomit-yellow cube surrounded by a garden of barbarously unkempt weeds known as the Bisacconi elementary school, Stefano Benni's young hero encounters a peculiar man--as big as a mountain and as filthy as a garbage dump, with a vast beard the color of a...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism adult book coming-of-age contemporary fiction -
Ambush by Obert Skye
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThings are strange in the town of Kingsplot. The usually sleepy town is experiencing things it just can't explain. Plants are vandalizing the museum, buildings are being torn apart at night, and the minds of residents are growing foggy and confused.In the Pillage manor above the town, Beck's life is unraveling as well...Categorized as:
family low-fantasy magic magical-realism action-adventure book children children-books -
The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of The Lies Among Us comes a magical tale about mothers and daughters, choices and consequences, and the real meaning of home when every place feels like a cage.Ten months. That’s the longest Elisa has stayed anyplace, constantly propelled by her fear that if she puts down roots, a family curse will turn her into a tree... -
Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt is a literary event when a genuinely new fictional voice comes along. When that voice achieves its newness not through a certain formal facility but through the freshness of its vision, there is truly something to celebrate. Matt Ruff was only twenty-two when Fool on the Hill was first published, but with his novel he gave us a story that won over readers of every persuasion... -
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Lanark by Alasdair Gray
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis work, originally published in 1981, has been hailed as the most influential Scottish novel of the second half of the 20th century. Its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, personal and political, about humankind's inability to love and yet our compulsion to go on trying... -
Catwings by Ursula K. Le Guin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe bestselling Catwings series!Mrs. Jane Tabby can't explain why her four precious kittens were born with wings, but she's grateful that they are able to use their flying skills to soar away from the dangerous city slums where they were born...Categorized as:
classics family low-fantasy magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure animals -
Stone Junction by Jim Dodge
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsCharging like a runaway semitrailer on a downhill grade and spanning the era from Haight-Ashbury's Summer of Love into the darkness of 1980s Manhattan, Stone Junction is a wise and wildly imaginative novel about Daniel Pearse, an orphaned child who is taken under the wings of the AMO -- the Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws...Categorized as:
classics crime literary-fiction low-fantasy magic magical-realism 20th-century adult -
Сказки старого Вильнюса II by Max Frei
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsВ центре Вильнюса ровно сто восемь улиц. И если ходить по ним достаточно долго, то есть почти каждый день на протяжении нескольких лет, на некоторых улицах можно стать свидетелем удивительных историй. А на некоторых - даже их участником.В подобных случаях, я знаю, обычно говорят - дескать, такие истории могли, конечно же, произойти где угодно... -
Country Mage 6: A Slice of Life HaremLit Fantasy Adventure by Jack Bryce
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe first snow of winter has arrived! James and his companions are eager to enjoy a season of good company and fun activities, such as the annual Winter Fair. With snowball fights, laughter, and hot cocoa on the horizon, it’s shaping up to be a great one.However, the cabin is getting more crowded by the day... -
Trader by Charles de Lint
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA novel of loss, identity, and, in the strangest of places, hope.Max Trader is a luthier, a maker of guitars. Johnny Devlin is chronically unemployed. Max is solitary, quiet, responsible. Johnny is a lady-killer, a drunk, a charming loser... -
Conjuring Quantico by T.S. Paul
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsHow do you cope with magic that goes its own way? As a second year FBI academy witch, Agatha Blackmore has a certain reputation. After nearly blowing up the school, an untended mid-air incident involving the FBI Director, and declaring war with the US Marines, she has to wonder if she will even see graduation... -
The Doll People by Ann M. Martin, Laura Godwin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAnnabelle Doll is 8 years old--and has been for over 100 years. Nothing much has changed in the dollhouse during that time, except for the fact that 45 years ago, Annabelle's Auntie Sarah disappeared from the dollhouse without a trace. After all this time, restless Annabelle is becoming more and more curious about her aunt's fate... -
Stockings and Spells by Nancy Warren
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA Holiday Market With crafts, toys, hot chocolate And a killer!The Vampire Knitting Club decide to take part in Oxford’s Holiday Market, selling exquisite hand knit scarves, sweaters and gift items. Their most popular item is the hand knit Christmas stocking, brightly colored and extra long to squeeze in a few extra small gifts... -
Peace by Gene Wolfe
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsMesmerizing sci-fi from the author the Denver Post calls "one of the literary giants of science fiction." The melancholy memoir of Alden Dennis Weer, an embittered old man living in a small midwestern town, reveals a miraculous dimension. For Weer's imagination has the power to obliterate time and reshape reality, transcending even death itself...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
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We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThey Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones...Categorized as:
magical-realism magic family low-fantasy young-adult fantasy mental-illness contemporary -
Murder of a Werewolf by April Fernsby
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBrimstone - a town where supernatural beings live - and where crime is on the increase. Just like her gran, Cassia Winter is a witch. The Winter witches are responsible for investigating crimes in Brimstone. The only problem is, Cassia doesn’t know she’s a witch yet. When Gran tells Cassia about her true nature, Cassia dismisses it as nonsense... -
Quintessence by Jess Redman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsQuintessence is an extraordinary story from Jess Redman about friendship, self-discovery, interconnectedness, and the inexplicable elements that make you you .Find the Elements. Grow the Light. Save the Starling.Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later, and they haven’t stopped―even though she’s told her parents that they have...Categorized as:
magical-realism magic family low-fantasy middle-grade fantasy mental-illness fiction -
We Never Talk about My Brother by Peter S. Beagle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsModern parables of love, death, and transformation are peppered with melancholy in this extraordinary collection of contemporary fantasy. Each short story cultivates a whimsical sense of imagination and reveals a mature, darker voice than previously experienced from this legendary author...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism adult angels anthologies contemporary fiction -
Past the Size of Dreaming by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Nebula and World Fantasy Award-nominated author of A Red Heart of Memories continues the spellbinding story of the wandering witch Matilda (Matt) Black, who possesses the ability to communicate with inanimate objects and see into people’s dreams—and her companion Edmund Reynolds, a young man with magic of his own who is only beginning to come to grips with his past and his powers…The two... -
The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Danny Holman leaves the cornfields of Iowa for the bright lights of Chicago, he expects his life to change. He just can't guess how much and how fast. A violent incident on the road brings Danny the favor of a man known only as Mr. Patrise, who gives Danny a job, a home, and a new identity.The City is a different world from the one Danny — now called Doc — knew, and literally so...
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