Books like “The Book Thief”

What to read after “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
A young woman in colonial Korea, Sunja, leaves home for Japan with a husband she barely knows and raises a family that lives as outsiders for generations. Through war and poverty, the household holds on to its dignity and its secrets.
2
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro · 1989
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- War Fiction
Stevens, a butler at an English country house, sets out on a motoring trip in 1956 and looks back over decades of service. Recalling his employer's political misjudgements and his own missed chances with the housekeeper, he begins to see what a life given to duty has cost him.
3
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque · 1929
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
Paul Baumer and his classmates enlist in the German army straight from school, urged on by a patriotic teacher. Trench life strips away everything they were taught, and the friends cling to each other as the war grinds them down.
4
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr · 2014
Same genre: “Historical fiction”
- War Fiction
- Coming of Age
During the German occupation of France, a blind girl and her father flee Paris for the walled city of Saint-Malo, carrying a valuable jewel. In Germany, an orphan with a gift for radio repairs is drawn into the war machine. Their separate paths move slowly toward the same besieged town in August 1944.
5
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini · 2007
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
Mariam and Laila, born a generation apart in Afghanistan, are forced together by marriage to the same violent man. Through decades of war and loss, the two women become each other's only home and take great risks for the chance of a different life.
6
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson · 1999
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- Coming of Age
Melinda begins high school as an outcast after calling the police at a summer party, and barely speaks. Through art class and small moments she slowly confronts what happened to her that night and finds the words to name it.
7
Looking for Alaska
John Green · 2005
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
Miles Halter leaves his quiet Florida home for a boarding school in Alabama, drawn by the last words of famous people. There he joins a tight circle of friends, falls for the reckless Alaska Young, and is forced to reckon with loss and guilt.
8
Salt to the Sea
Ruta Sepetys · 2016
Same genre: “Historical fiction” and “Young adult fiction”
- War Fiction
- Found Family
Four young refugees cross a frozen East Prussia in the winter of 1945, each hiding a secret and hoping to reach a ship that will carry them west. Their paths merge among the crowds fleeing the advancing Soviet army, bound for a vessel whose fate none of them suspect.
9
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally · 1982
Same genre: “Historical fiction”
- War Fiction
In German-occupied Poland, Oskar Schindler, a Czech businessman and opportunist, employs Jewish workers in his factory. As the war turns and deportations intensify, he uses his wealth and connections to shield them, at growing personal risk.
10
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher · 2007
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- Coming of Age
Clay Jensen receives a box of tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate who has taken her own life. As he follows her voice around town, she explains the thirteen reasons behind her decision, and Clay learns his own place in her story.
11
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz · 2012
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- Coming of Age
In 1987 El Paso, two Mexican American boys meet at a swimming pool and slowly become friends. Over long summers they share books, secrets and fears, and each begins to understand the love and longing he has been afraid to name.
12
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe · 1958
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Okonkwo, a respected wrestler and farmer in a Nigerian village, builds his standing on a fear of appearing weak. When he is exiled and, years later, British missionaries and officials arrive, the customs that shaped him begin to collapse around him and his people.