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Books like How to Be Both
A playful, luminous meditation on art, grief, and the fluid nature of time and identity. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with How to Be Both.
- dreamy
- contemplative
- bittersweet
- luminous
- 01
Autumn
Ali Smith
A fragmented, poetic meditation on time, art, and friendship set against the backdrop of a fractured modern world.
- 02
This is how it always is
Laurie Frankel
A big-hearted, messy, and deeply tender exploration of how far parents will go to protect their child's right to simply be.
- 03
Artful
Ali Smith
A ghostly, genre-defying conversation about love, loss, and the literature that keeps us alive.
- 04
The cost of living
Deborah Levy
A vibrant, urgent reflection on dismantling the social hierarchies that diminish women, in pursuit of a life lived with meaning, pleasure, and ultimate freedom.
- 05
The chronology of water
Lidia Yuknavitch
A raw, untraditional plunge into grief, fluid sexuality, and the fierce current of survival.
- 06
The Mothers
Brit Bennett
A lyrical, sun-drenched exploration of how the secrets we keep in our youth become the ghosts that haunt our adulthood.
- 07
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
A vibrant, free-flowing chorus of voices that weaves a rich, interconnected tapestry of modern and historical identity.
- 08
Call Me by Your Name
André Aciman
A sun-drenched, intoxicating plunge into the agonizing beauty of first love and the haunting power of memory.
- 09
Exit West
Mohsin Hamid
A breathtaking, fable-like journey through magical doors that explores how love and humanity endure when the world fractures.
- 10
Life After Life
Kate Atkinson
A sweeping, beautifully fractured tapestry of a single life lived over and over against the backdrop of a world at war.
- 11
A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth Ozeki
A deeply moving meditation on time, existence, and the invisible threads that connect us across oceans and generations.
- 12
The Lie Tree
Frances Hardinge
A shadowy historical mystery about a fiercely curious girl peeling back the polite veneer of society to expose the deadly secrets beneath.
