Recommendations based on Pretty Monsters: Storiesby Kelly Link

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    by Susanna Clarke
    A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.

    The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Get in Trouble

    by Kelly Link
    A collection of short stories that blend fantasy and reality, exploring the complexities of human relationships and emotions.

    She has been hailed by Michael Chabon as “the most darkly playful voice in American fiction” and by Neil Gaiman as “a national treasure.” Now Kelly Link’s eagerly awaited new collection–her first for ... (Goodreads)

  3. Mrs. Dalloway

    by Virginia Woolf
    A day in the life of a high-society woman, delving into her inner thoughts and feelings.

    Clarissa Dalloway goes around London in the morning, getting ready to host a party that evening. The nice day reminds her of her youth spent in the countryside in Bourton and makes her wonder about ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Habibi

    by Craig Thompson
    A love story between a young man and woman within the context of Middle Eastern culture.

    From the internationally acclaimed author of, Blankets , a highly anticipated new graphic novel. Sprawling across an epic landscape of deserts, harems, and modern industrial clutter, Habibi tells the ... (Goodreads)

  5. Scott Pilgrim, Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness

    by Bryan Lee O'Malley
    A comedic exploration of love, relationships, and modern life through the lens of a young man.

    Scott Pilgrim, a 23-year-old slacker, lives in Toronto with his roommate Wallace Wells. He is the bass player for Sex Bob-omb, an unsuccessful band consisting of himself, guitarist Stephen Stills, ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

    by Haruki Murakami
    A surreal journey of self-discovery, exploring the inner and outer worlds.

    The first part, "The Thieving Magpie", begins with the narrator, Toru Okada, a low-key and unemployed lawyer's assistant, being tasked by his wife, Kumiko, to find their missing cat. Kumiko suggests ... (Wikipedia)

  7. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

    by David Mitchell
    An epic tale of love and adventure set in an 18th century Japanese trading port.

    The novel begins in the summer of 1799 at the Dutch East India Company trading post Dejima in the harbor of Nagasaki . It tells the story of a Dutch trader's love for a Japanese midwife who is ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Going Bovine

    by Libba Bray
    A teen's surreal journey of self-discovery, spurred by a diagnosis of a terminal illness.

    Cameron Smith is a high school slacker from Texas who is on “a slow but uncontrollable skid to nowhere” , living a somewhat aimless life. His father is a college physics professor; his mother is a ... (Wikipedia)

  9. After Dark

    by Haruki Murakami
    A night in Tokyo filled with mysterious events and surreal encounters.

    Set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night, characters include Mari Asai, a 19-year-old student, who is spending the night reading in a Denny's . There she meets Takahashi Tetsuya, a ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Scott Pilgrim, Volume 2: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

    by Bryan Lee O'Malley
    A young man's fight against his love interest's seven evil exes, with a dose of magical realism.

    Scott Pilgrim, a 23-year-old slacker, lives in Toronto with his roommate Wallace Wells. He is the bass player for Sex Bob-omb, an unsuccessful band consisting of himself, guitarist Stephen Stills, ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Magicians

    by Lev Grossman
    A coming-of-age story of a young man's journey to a magical world, learning to wield its power.

    The, New York Times, bestselling novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world, now an original series on, SYFY,“,The Magicians, is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a ... (Barnes & Noble)

  12. The Forest of Hands and Teeth

    by Carrie Ryan
    In a post-apocalyptic world, Mary seeks to escape her village surrounded by the Forest of Hands and Teeth, where the undead roam.

    In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

    by Haruki Murakami
    A surreal exploration of two separate yet interwoven realities.

    The story is split between parallel narratives. The odd-numbered chapters take place in the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', although the phrase is not used anywhere in the text, only in page headers. The ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Marcovaldo

    by Italo Calvino
    A man's struggles to survive in a modern city, observing the beauty of nature amidst hardships.

    The Marcovaldo series depicts the life of a poor rural man with his family living in a big industrial city in northern Italy . The central character of Marcovaldo is an unskilled labourer for the ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Close Range: Wyoming Stories

    by Annie Proulx
    A collection of short stories set in the rural landscape of Wyoming, exploring the lives of its inhabitants.

    From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes one of the most celebrated short story collections of our time. Annie Proulx's masterful ... (Barnes & Noble)

  16. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

    by Matthew Quick
    A teenage boy's plan to take revenge on those he feels have wronged him, and his journey to self-forgiveness.

    Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 ... (Goodreads)

  17. Zero History

    by William Gibson
    A thrilling exploration of corporate espionage and high-tech subterfuge.

    Hollis Henry and Milgrim find themselves in London working for Hubertus Bigend , unaware that their lives previously crossed in Spook Country . One of Bigend's current interests is fashion, ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Graveyard Book

    by Neil Gaiman
    A young boy's journey through a graveyard, learning the secrets of the dead.

    The story begins as the man Jack murders most of the members of a family (later revealed to be the Dorian family) except for the toddler upstairs. Unknown to him, the toddler has climbed out of his ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Annihilation

    by Jeff VanderMeer
    A team of four women venture into a mysterious, surreal landscape in search of answers.

    A team of four women cross the border into an uninhabited area known as "Area X", an unspecified coastal location that has been closed to the public for three decades. The group consists of a ... (Wikipedia)

  20. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Preacher, Volume 2: Until the End of the World

    by Garth Ennis
    Jesse Custer continues his search for God, accompanied by his vampire friend and his ex-girlfriend. Violence and dark humor ensue.

    Continuing the new editions of the classic PREACHER trade paperbacks! This volume contains PREACHER #8-17. In this continuing saga of the bizarre life of a faithless Texas preacher, Jesse Custer ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Little Stranger

    by Sarah Waters
    A mysterious and haunting tale of a family living in an eerie old manor house.

    Faraday, a country doctor with humble beginnings, is called to Hundreds Hall, an 18th-century estate that has lived far beyond its former glory. He treats a young maid who dislikes the large, ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

    by Junot Díaz
    An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.

    Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Cloud Atlas

    by David Mitchell
    A dynamic narrative spanning centuries, exploring the interconnectedness of humanity.

    The book consists of six nested stories; each is read or observed by a main character of the next, thus they progress in time through the central sixth story. The first five stories are each ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Cold Comfort Farm

    by Stella Gibbons
    A young woman moves to the countryside to bring order to the chaotic lives of her relatives.

    Following the death of her parents, the book's heroine, Flora Poste, finds she is possessed "of every art and grace save that of earning her own living". She decides to take advantage of the fact ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Fortress of Solitude

    by Jonathan Lethem
    A young man's exploration of friendship, identity and belonging in a rapidly changing world.

    From the prize-winning author of Motherless Brooklyn , a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th-century America. This is the story of two ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Phantom Tollbooth

    by Norton Juster
    A whimsical adventure through a magical land, searching for a way out of the boredom of everyday life.

    Milo is a boy bored by the world around him; every activity seems a waste of time. He arrives home from another boring day at school to find a mysterious package. Among its contents are a small ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Burning Chrome

    by William Gibson
    A collection of sci-fi stories, exploring a dystopian cyberpunk future.

    Ten tales, from the computer-enhanced hustlers of Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome . Johnny Mnemonic (1981) The Gernsback Continuum (1981) Fragments of a Hologram Rose ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Magician's Land

    by Lev Grossman
    The final book in the Magicians trilogy, as Quentin Coldwater and his friends face their ultimate challenge in a magical world.

    After being expelled from the magical realm of Fillory, magician Quentin Coldwater returns to his alma mater , the magical college of Brakebills, as a new professor. There he is finally given a ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Sunshine

    by Robin McKinley
    Rae, a young girl, discovers her magical powers and must navigate a world of politics and power struggles to save her kingdom from darkness.

    The story is set in an alternate universe , taking place after the "Voodoo Wars", a conflict between humans and the "Others". The Others mainly consist of vampires , werewolves , and demons , though ... (Wikipedia)