No Longer Human

Books like No Longer Human

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October 25, 2022
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#1 The Beekeeper Of Aleppo

The heartwarming love tale of a woman who has lost her sight and her husband, who fights for their existence as they travel through Syria as refugees to Europe. Beekeeper Nuri and artist Afra are married. In the lovely Syrian city of Aleppo, they have a straightforward existence full of family and friends—until the unthinkable occurs. They are compelled to flee after the war destroys all they care about. However, Afra’s experience was so horrific that it caused her to lose her vision. As a result, they must go across Turkey and Greece at great risk in order to reach an unknown future in Britain.

Nuri is kept going on the journey by the knowledge that Mustafa, his cousin and business partner, who has established an apiary and is instructing other refugees in Yorkshire in beekeeping, will be waiting for them. In addition to the sorrow of their own unfathomable loss, Nuri and Afra must face perils that would weaken even the most courageous individuals as they journey through a ruined world. They must travel in order to reconnect, above all. The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a moving, potent, sympathetic, and exquisitely written example of how the human spirit may prevail. It is the kind of book that serves as a reminder of the importance of narrative.

#2 Books Like The Maid

Molly Gray is unique compared to other people. She has trouble interacting with others and frequently misinterprets their intentions. Molly’s grandmother used to translate the world for her, codifying everything into clear guidelines that she could follow.

Since Gran passed away a few months ago, Molly, age 25, has had to deal with the difficulties of life on her own. Whatever the case, she enthusiastically dives into her work as a hotel maid. She is the perfect candidate for the job because of her distinctive personality, obsession with cleanliness, and understanding of the right protocol. She enjoys putting on her polished uniform every morning, filling her cart with tiny soaps and bottles, and making sure the guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel are immaculate.

#3 Books Like 40 Rules Of Love

Ella Rubenstein accepts a position as a reader for a literary agent at the age of forty and in an unhappy marriage. Her first task is to read and analyze the book Sweet Blasphemy, which was authored by Aziz Zahara. Ella is captivated by his account of Shams’s quest for Rumi and the dervish’s contribution to the prosperous but dissatisfied cleric’s transformation into a dedicated mystic, passionate poet, and proponent of love. Shams’s teachings, or rules, which provide insight into an antiquated philosophy based on the equality of all people and religions and the existence of love in every single one of us, also capture her attention. As she continues to read, she comes to understand that Zahara, like Shams, has come to set her free and that Rumi’s story mirrors her own.

Elif Shafak, a renowned Turkish author, presents two enticing parallel narratives in this lyrical, vivacious sequel to her 2007 book The Bastard of Istanbul—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century when Rumi met his spiritual guide, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together embodied the poet’s eternal message of love.

#4 Hard Rain Falling

Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter is a dour narrative of crime, retribution, and the search for ever-elusive forgiveness. It is a story of being down and out but never down for good. The story revolves around the exploits of Jack Levitt, an orphaned youngster scraping by in the dingy pool halls and sleazy hotels of Portland, Oregon. Billy Lancing, a talented pool hustler and young black runaway, becomes pals with Jack. Jack is transferred to a reform school after a failed theft, where he is abused and placed in seclusion until being released. Billy has since become a member of the middle class, getting married, having a son, owning a business, and having a mistress. However, neither Jack nor Billy can avoid their troubled pasts, and before their unusual double drama reaches to a violent and revelatory conclusion, they will reunite in San Quentin.

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#5 Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina, widely regarded as the finest novel ever written, offers a comprehensive portrait of both humankind and Russian society today. In it, Tolstoy employs his keen imagination to develop some of literature’s most enduring characters. In order to satisfy her passionate nature, Anna, a smart woman, leaves her empty life as Karenin’s wife and goes to Count Vronsky, with tragic results. Tolstoy’s personal opinions and convictions are frequently expressed by Levin, who is a reflection of the author himself.

Tolstoy makes no overarching points and only invites us to observe rather than pass judgment. He departs from the kaleidoscope’s shifting patterns in order to emphasize the significance of the ominous words that follow the title, “Vengeance is mine, and I will pay back,” writes Rosemary Edmonds.

#6 Norwegian Wood

Toru, a shy and uncannily somber young college student in Tokyo, is deeply in love with Naoko, a lovely and reflective young woman, but their shared devotion is characterized by the devastating loss of their best friend years earlier. While Naoko finds the stresses and obligations of life intolerable, Toru starts to adjust to university life and the isolation and loneliness he experiences there. Toru discovers himself extending out to others and attracted to an independent-minded and sexually adventurous young woman as she withdraws even more into her own world.

Norwegian Wood masterfully recreates a young man’s first, hopeless, and heroic love by fusing the story of one college student’s romantic coming of age with the music, mood, and ethos of the 1960s.

#7 Tampa

Celeste Price, a smoldering 26-year-old Florida middle school teacher, reveals her complex and sociopathically motivated seduction of a 14-year-old student in Alissa Nutting’s book Tampa with no remorse.

Jack Patrick, a charmingly unassuming man, was picked by Celeste and drawn into her web. Most importantly, Jack is ready to agree to Celeste’s terms for a secret relationship—dark car rides, meet-ups at Jack’s house while his single father was working the late shift, and body-slamming arousing encounters in Celeste’s empty classroom—because he is fascinated and in awe of his eighth-grade teacher. Celeste Price is a monster of pure motivation when it comes to quenching her sexual appetite. She is remorseless and cunningly free of hesitancy. She lies to everyone, has no friends, and only cares about her own pleasure.

#8 The Naked Woman

Critics questioned whether a woman author could be accountable for The Naked Woman’s stunning sensual elements when it was first released in 1950. Fantastic concepts are contrasted with harsh portrayals of misogyny and brutality in this scathing attack on Enlightenment values, which frantically builds to a violent finish.

Readers of Clarice Lispector, Djuna Barnes, and Leonora Carrington will connect with Armona Somers now that she is finally available to an English-speaking public.

#9 Letters To Juliet

Every year, millions of tourists go to Verona, Italy, attracted by the enduring legend of Shakespeare’s pair of star-crossed lovers. But that only tells a portion of the tale. Every day, messages arrive in the city, frequently addressed simply as “Juliet, Verona.” They arrive by the truckload, penned by romantics seeking Juliet’s advice, and in practically every language imaginable. Of course, the majority of the missives discuss love—love that has been discovered and lost, sought after, and recalled. Amazingly, every letter is responded to.

In Letters to Juliet, volunteers who at first wrote privately but are now recognized by the city of Verona as members of the Juliet Club tell the tale of these letters and the volunteer who have been sending replies for more than seven decades. This poetic collection, which contains more than 75 sincere letters, retraces the background to Shakespeare’s story and visits the sites that contributed to the global fascination with Juliet and her Romeo.