Recommendations based on Tokyo Ueno Stationby Miri Yū

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

  1. The Shadow King

    by Maaza Mengiste
    Set during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, a young woman joins the fight against Mussolini's army.

    Ethiopia. 1935., With the threat of Mussolini's army looming, recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid. Her new employer, Kidane, an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie's ... (Goodreads)

  2. Burnt Sugar

    by Avni Doshi
    A daughter's complex relationship with her mother, who is suffering from memory loss. A story of love, resentment, and the search for identity.

    In her youth, Tara was wild. She abandoned her loveless marriage to join an ashram, endured a brief stint as a beggar (mostly to spite her affluent parents), and spent years chasing after a ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Housekeeper and the Professor

    by Yōko Ogawa
    A gentle story of friendship and understanding between a brilliant mathematician and his housekeeper.

    The narrator's housekeeping agency dispatches her to the house of the Professor, a former mathematician who can remember new memories for only 80 minutes. She is more than a little frustrated to find ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Convenience Store Woman

    by Sayaka Murata
    A darkly comic story of a woman's search for acceptance and belonging in a society that doesn't fit her.

    Keiko Furukura is a 36-year old woman who has been working part-time at a convenience store , or konbini , for the last 18 years. She has known since childhood that she is "different" and that ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Elementals

    by Michael McDowell
    A gothic horror story about a family haunted by a mysterious force from the sea.

    On a split of land cut off by the Gulf, three Victorian summer houses stand against the encroaching sand. Two of the houses at Beldame are still used. The third house, filling with sand, is ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

    by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    A man's journey through life in reverse, exploring the meaning of life and death.

    In 1860 Baltimore , Benjamin is born with the physical appearance of a 70-year-old man, already capable of speech. His father Roger invites neighborhood boys to play with him and orders him to play ... (Wikipedia)

  7. 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)

  8. 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)

  9. The Far Side Gallery

    by Gary Larson
    Collection of single-panel cartoons exploring the absurd, surreal and humorous aspects of life.

    1984 FarWorks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Far Side and the Larson signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc. The Far Side Gallery is an anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Penelopiad

    by Margaret Atwood
    A retelling of Homer's "The Odyssey" from the perspective of Penelope, wife of Odysseus. A feminist take on a classic tale.

    The novel recaps Penelope 's life in hindsight from 21st century Hades; she recalls her family life in Sparta , her marriage to Odysseus , her dealing with suitors during his absence, and the ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Lovecraft Country

    by Matt Ruff
    A thrilling and terrifying journey through 1950s America, where a young black man and his family face supernatural horrors and racism.

    The book consists of eight interconnected stories: Atticus Turner, working in Florida after leaving the army, returns home to Chicago after receiving a mysterious letter from his estranged father, ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Invisible Cities

    by Italo Calvino
    A fantastical exploration of the cities of the imagination and the possibilities of life.

    "Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young ... (Goodreads)

  13. 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)

  14. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

    by Stuart Turton
    A man must solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, but each day he wakes up in a different body, reliving the same day over and over again.

    Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different ... (Goodreads)

  15. No Longer Human

    by Osamu Dazai
    A young man's struggles with emotional turmoil and suicidal ideation.

    Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human , this leading postwar Japanese writer's second novel, tells the poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a ... (Goodreads)

  16. Dreamology

    by Lucy Keating
    Alice has been dreaming of Max her whole life, but when she finally meets him in real life, she realizes that dreams and reality don't always match up.

    Vibrantly offbeat and utterly original, Lucy Keating’s debut novel combines the unconventional romance of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the sweetness and heart of Jenny Han. For as long ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. The Secret Messenger

    by Mandy Robotham
    In Nazi-occupied Italy, a young woman becomes a messenger for the resistance, risking everything to deliver messages of hope and love.

    The German Midwife (also published as A Woman of War ). “Rich and captivating…a vivid story of love, sacrifice and betrayal.” –,Woman’s World, Venice, 1943,The world is at war, and Stella Jilani is ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. Shattered

    by Teri Terry
    A girl wakes up with no memory of her past, but discovers she is a clone. She must uncover the truth before it's too late.

    Kyla is in danger from both the government Lorders who erased her memory and the terrorists who tried to use her. So now she’s on the run. Sporting a new identity and desperate to fill in the blank ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Sympathizer

    by Viet Thanh Nguyen
    Vietnam War refugee returns to his homeland and struggles to reconcile conflicting loyalties.

    It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be ... (Goodreads)

  20. Anxious People

    by Fredrik Backman
    A failed bank robber takes hostages in an apartment viewing, leading to a comedic and heartwarming exploration of human connection and anxiety.

    An instant #1, New York Times, bestseller, the new novel from the author of, A Man Called Ove , is a “quirky, big-hearted novel… .Wry, wise and often laugh-out-loud funny, it’s a wholly original ... (Barnes & Noble)

  21. It's a Magical World

    by Bill Watterson
    A collection of philosophical comic strips featuring the adventures of Calvin and Hobbes.

    When cartoonist Bill Watterson announced that his phenomenally popular cartoon strip would be discontinued, Calvin and Hobbes fans throughout the world went into mourning. Fans have learned to ... (Barnes & Noble)

  22. Bartleby the Scrivener

    by Herman Melville
    A story of a mysterious scrivener whose refusal to comply with workplace demands leads to tragedy.

    The narrator is an unnamed Manhattan lawyer, aged around his late 50s, with a business in legal documents. He already employs two scriveners , Nippers and Turkey, to copy legal documents by hand, but ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Saving Sophie

    by Ronald H. Balson
    A lawyer races against time to save a young girl from her abusive father in war-torn Poland.

    From Ronald H. Balson, author of, Once We Were Brothers,, Saving Sophie, is the powerful story of the lengths a father will go through to protect his daughter and an action-packed thriller that will ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. Olive Kitteridge

    by Elizabeth Strout
    An exploration of the life of a small-town woman, revealing her struggles and emotional complexities.

    Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires. At times stern, at other times ... (Goodreads)

  25. Free Preview - The Husband's Secret

    by Liane Moriarty
    A woman discovers a letter from her husband with a secret that could destroy their lives and those around them.

    A free preview of Liane Moriarty's, The Husband's Secret, including a special essay bythe author., At the heart of, The Husband’s Secret, is a letter, that’s not meant to be read, , My darling ... (Goodreads)

  26. Mostly Dead Things

    by Kristen Arnett
    After her father's suicide, Jessa-Lynn Morton takes over the family taxidermy business and navigates love, loss, and grief.

    One morning, Jessa-Lynn Morton walks into the family taxidermy shop to find that her father has committed suicide, right there on one of the metal tables. Shocked and grieving, Jessa steps up to ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Journal of Curious Letters

    by James Dashner
    A boy receives mysterious letters inviting him to join a secret society and embark on a dangerous adventure.

    Atticus "Tick" Higginbottom is an average 13-year-old until he receives a mysterious letter from Alaska, signed "M.G." That marks the beginning of a deadly and crazy adventure, and Tick is ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Florida

    by Lauren Groff
    A collection of short stories set in Florida, exploring the lives of its inhabitants and the state's unique landscape.

    The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida—its landscape, climate, history, and state of mind—becomes its gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as ... (Goodreads)

  29. Slated

    by Teri Terry
    Kyla's memory has been erased, but she discovers secrets about her past that make her question everything.

    Kyla’s memory has been erased, her personality wiped blank, her memories lost for ever. She’s been Slated. The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as ... (Goodreads)

  30. Wolf by Wolf

    by Ryan Graudin
    A daring mission to alter the course of history by infiltrating a deadly Nazi race.

    From the author of, The Walled City, comes a fast-paced and innovative novel that will leave you breathless. Her story begins on a train. The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and ... (Barnes & Noble)