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Recommendations based on What We Loseby Zinzi Clemmons
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
There There
by Tommy Orange
A powerful novel that follows the lives of twelve Native Americans living in Oakland, California, as they prepare for a powwow.
The book begins with an essay by Orange, detailing "brief and jarring vignettes revealing the violence and genocide that Indigenous people have endured, and how it has been sanitized over the ... (Wikipedia)
Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid
Reflection on displacement and immigration as two refugees traverse the world in search of a new life.
Nadia and Saeed meet when they are working students in an unnamed city. Saeed is more conservative and still lives at home, as custom generally requires, but the more independent Nadia has chosen to ... (Wikipedia)
Stay with Me
by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
A sweeping tale of love, betrayal, and the power of family, set in Nigeria.
This celebrated, unforgettable first novel, shortlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their ... (Goodreads)
The Immortalists
by Chloe Benjamin
Four siblings visit a fortune teller who predicts the dates of their deaths, leading them to confront mortality and shape their lives accordingly.
If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life? It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims ... (Goodreads)
Goodbye, Vitamin
by Rachel Khong
A young woman returns home to help care for her father with Alzheimer's, reflecting on family, love, and memory.
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR;, O, The Oprah Magazine,;, Vogue,;, San Francisco Chronicl,e;, Esquire,;, Huffington Post,;, Nylon,;, Entertainment Weekly,;, BuzzFeed,;, Booklist,; and, The ... (Barnes & Noble)
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
by Lesley Nneka Arimah
A collection of stories exploring the struggles of modern life, dealing with loss, identity, and belonging.
A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home. In “Who Will Greet ... (Goodreads)
Ghost World
by Daniel Clowes
Two teenage girls navigate the awkward transition to adulthood, grappling with identity, relationships, and the mundanity of suburban life.
Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the ... (Goodreads)
The Mothers
by Brit Bennett
An exploration of motherhood, faith, and identity in a close-knit Black community.
Living in Southern California, 17-year-old Nadia, grieving her mother's suicide, becomes pregnant by her boyfriend Luke, a local pastor's son. She has an abortion and leaves her hometown to attend ... (Wikipedia)
Brooklyn
by Colm Tóibín
A young Irish woman's migration to America, exploring themes of identity and belonging.
Eilis Lacey is a young woman who is unable to find work in 1950s Ireland . Her older sister Rose organises a meeting with a Catholic priest called Father Flood on a visit from New York City , who ... (Wikipedia)
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
by Arundhati Roy
Exploration of the lives of a diverse group of characters in India, searching for identity and purpose.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes us on a journey of many years – the story spooling outwards from the cramped neighbourhoods of Old Delhi into the burgeoning new metropolis and beyond, to the ... (Goodreads)
Autumn
by Ali Smith
A novel about the friendship between an elderly man and a young woman, exploring themes of memory, time, and the changing of seasons.
Daniel Gluck, a 101-year-old former songwriter, lies asleep and dreaming in his care home. He is regularly visited by 32-year-old Elisabeth Demand, who had been his next door neighbour as a young ... (Wikipedia)
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A satirical exploration of human folly, exposing the dangers of unchecked science and technology.
Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ... Dr Felix Hoenikker, ... (Goodreads)
Anything Is Possible
by Elizabeth Strout
An exploration of the interconnected lives of a small town's inhabitants, and the power of redemption.
Short story collection Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Here are two sisters: one ... (Goodreads)
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
by Carmen Maria Machado
Collection of surreal stories exploring the complexities of gender, sexuality and identity.
In Her Body and Other Parties , Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her ... (Goodreads)
An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones
A newlywed couple's lives are torn apart when the husband is wrongfully convicted of a crime. The novel explores love, loyalty, and injustice.
Roy, a sales representative for a textbook company, and Celestial, an artist specializing in custom made baby dolls, are newlyweds who live in Atlanta. After their first year of marriage they travel ... (Wikipedia)
The Tea Dragon Society
by Kay O'Neill
A heartwarming graphic novel about a young girl who learns the art of tea dragon caretaking from kind and gentle tea dragon masters.
Available for the first time in paperback, The Tea Dragon Society is the two-time Eisner Award-winning gentle fantasy that follows the story of a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as ... (Barnes & Noble)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
by Raymond Carver
Exploration of relationships, revealing the complexities of love and its many forms.
Alternate-cover edition can be found, here, In his second collection, Carver establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated and beloved short-story writers in American literature—a haunting ... (Goodreads)
Brideshead Revisited
by Evelyn Waugh
A nostalgic reflection on a wealthy family and the enduring power of love.
The novel is divided into three parts, framed by a prologue and epilogue. The prologue takes place during the final years of the Second World War . Charles Ryder and his battalion are sent to a ... (Wikipedia)
West Side Story
by Irving Shulman
A modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in 1950s New York City, exploring the rivalry between two street gangs and the love between their members.
From the silver screen to the Great White Way—one of the greatest stories of all time.,They came together through love but violence threatened to tear them apart. Maria was young and innocent and had ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Favorite Sister
by Jessica Knoll
A reality TV show featuring five successful women turns deadly when one of them is found dead. Secrets and lies are exposed as the truth is uncovered.
* * *, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER * * * Brett and Kelly have always toed the line between supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child, in the shadow of the brilliant ... (Goodreads)
Summer House
by Nancy Thayer
A family gathers at their summer house in Nantucket, where secrets and tensions rise to the surface.
After years of wandering from whim to whim, thirty-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of ... (Goodreads)
Beachcombers
by Nancy Thayer
Three generations of women navigate love, loss, and secrets on Nantucket Island. A heartwarming family drama with a touch of romance.
Abbie Fox hasn’t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent emails begging her to return home. Their middle sister, ... (Goodreads)
The Story of a New Name
by Elena Ferrante
Two young women's search for identity and independence in a patriarchal society.
In 2012, Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend introduced readers to the unforgettable Elena and Lila, whose lifelong friendship provides the backbone for the Neapolitan Novels. The Story of a New ... (Goodreads)
The Love Season
by Elin Hilderbrand
A summer romance between a woman and her ex-husband's best friend, set on the idyllic island of Nantucket.
Welcome to, The Love Season,—a riveting story that takes place in one day and spans decades; a story that embraces the charming, pristine island of Nantucket, as well as Manhattan, Paris and Morocco. ... (Barnes & Noble)
My Notorious Life
by Kate Manning
A young girl rises from poverty to become a controversial midwife in 19th century New York City.
A brilliant rendering of a scandalous historical figure, Kate Manning's My Notorious Life is an ambitious, thrilling novel introducing Axie Muldoon, a fiery heroine for the ages. Axie's story begins ... (Goodreads)
Maine
by J. Courtney Sullivan
Four generations of women in an Irish-American family confront their past and present during a summer in Maine.
In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us ... (Goodreads)
Most Wanted
by Lisa Scottoline
A woman discovers that the sperm donor for her pregnancy is a convicted murderer, and sets out to uncover the truth.
Christine Nilsson and her husband, Marcus, are desperate for a baby. Unable to conceive, they find themselves facing a difficult choice they had never anticipated. After many appointments with ... (Goodreads)
The Golden Son
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
An Indian doctor in the US struggles to balance his traditional values with his new life, as he faces love, loss, and ethical dilemmas.
The first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency ... (Goodreads)
The Expatriates
by Janice Y.K. Lee
Three American women living in Hong Kong navigate their personal and professional lives, facing loss, love, and identity crises.
Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, ... (Goodreads)
Black Water
by D.J. MacHale
A group of teens on a rafting trip are stranded in a mysterious, dangerous swamp and must fight to survive.
Breaking the rules Just when fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon thinks he understands his purpose as a Traveler – to protect the territories of Halla from the evil Saint Dane -- he is faced with an ... (Barnes & Noble)
