LitQueuelitqueue

After

Oona Out of Order

Margarita Montimore2020

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Exit West

    Mohsin Hamid2017

    A couple flees a civil war through magical doors that lead to different cities around the world. Their relationship changes as they migrate.

    Same tender register, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • A Brief History of Seven Killings

    Marlon James2014

    A large cast of characters recounts the 1976 attempt on Bob Marley's life. The narrative spans decades and moves from Jamaica to New York.

    tender → propulsive

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    tender → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Sound and the Fury

    William Faulkner1929

    The decline of a Southern family told through four perspectives, including a non-linear stream of consciousness from a man with a disability.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

tender → playful

3 more ↓

  • How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire

    Kerrelyn Sparks2005

    A vampire who broke a fang kidnaps a dentist who is afraid of blood. She is hiding from the mafia while he needs his smile repaired.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Pack challenge

    Shelly Laurenston2006

    A wolf shifter travels to a small Texas town and pursues a scarred female shifter who has no interest in being his mate.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Romancing Mister Bridgerton

    Julia Quinn2002

    A long-time wallflower and her friend's brother discover each other's secrets in Regency London. The plot centers on the identity of a gossip writer.

    tender → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Child 44

    Tom Rob Smith2008

    A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.

    tender → tense

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Candide

    Voltaire

    A naive young man travels the world while his tutor insists that everything is for the best. He encounters a series of global catastrophes.

    tender → sardonic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    tender → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Umbrella

    Will Self2013

    A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.

    tender → clinical

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    tender → bleak

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Invisible Cities

    Italo Calvino1972

    Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.

    tender → meditative, still magical realism

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Summer that Melted Everything

    Tiffany McDaniel2016

    A boy claiming to be the devil arrives in a small Ohio town during a 1984 heatwave. His presence triggers a series of local tragedies.

    tender → elegiac, still magical realism

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Road

    Cormac McCarthy2006

    A father and son walk through a landscape of ash and scavengers toward the coast. They carry only what fits in a shopping cart.

    tender → bleak

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Oryx and Crake

    Margaret Atwood2003

    A man survives a genetic apocalypse in a world of engineered creatures. He remembers his past with a scientist and the woman they both loved.

    tender → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2