100 books like Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

By Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (translator),

Here are 100 books that Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage fans have personally recommended if you like Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

Alison B. Hart Author Of The Work Wife

From my list on women’s ambition and battle for our souls at work.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ll tell you a secret. I’m obsessed with money—not fast cars, designer labels, and McMansions, but the accumulation of capital: who has it, how they got it, and what lengths they’re willing to go to to keep it. So I’ve always loved novels about work. They cut right to the heart of a character’s true motivations, revealing what they’ll fight for and who they’ll love. Don’t show me what a person looks like, show me how they earn (or don’t earn) their living, and I’ll remember them forever.

Alison's book list on women’s ambition and battle for our souls at work

Alison B. Hart Why did Alison love this book?

When I picked up Tsumura’s first novel to be translated into English, I’d just given notice at my hectic corporate job. So when the burned-out narrator tells her employment agency she’s looking for an easy job that’s “ideally, something along the lines of sitting all day in a chair,” I could relate.

She searches for that elusive work-life balance at a series of strange positions, but when she lands a plum gig working in a small hut in a forest, the story’s disparate strands weave together into an emotionally satisfying whole.

By Kikuko Tsumura,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"[A] 21st-century response to Herman Melville's 'Bartleby, the Scrivener.'"―NPR

"A revelation."―Time

A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: it is close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and ideally, very little thinking.

Her first gig--watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods--turns out to be inconvenient. (When can she go to the bathroom?) Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job--writing trivia for rice cracker packages; punching entry tickets…


Book cover of Expectation: A Novel

Saskia Sarginson Author Of The Central Line

From my list on London and love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an author and a romantic. Put the two together and it makes sense for me to write love stories. I’ve always been interested in relationships and fascinated by how complex our feelings make us when we fall in love. There’s a love story in all my books, but for the last three novels, a love story has been the story. I’m a Londoner too, and I like it when a city becomes another character in a book, as I hope London has in The Central Line.

Saskia's book list on London and love

Saskia Sarginson Why did Saskia love this book?

I fell in love with this beautifully written book about female friendship, set-in modern-day London. The opening shows us three young women lounging in London Fields one summer, all of them filled with an indisputable sense that they are on the brink of life, their horizons lit up with promise. Ten years later, those promises have failed to materialize. The characters are confused, struggling, and envious of what each of the others has. All three are strong, flawed characters, and their lives, choices, and mistakes feel very real and poignant.

By Anna Hope,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Expectation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE MUST-READ SUMMER 2020 RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK

'If you wished Normal People had tackled female friendship, try Expectation' GRAZIA
'Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist' GUARDIAN
'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES
______________________

What happened to the women we were supposed to become?

Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry - and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They…


Book cover of The Rachel Incident

Genevieve Novak Author Of Crushing

From my list on to break you out of a reading slump.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a contemporary romance writer with two novels: No Hard Feelings and Crushing, stories about complex, messy women making mistakes and learning from them. As I work on my third novel, I'm remembering how hard it is to write when you're in a reading rut. Sometimes every book I pick up is disappointing, and reading feels like a chore, and I risk losing momentum. Sometimes I need something familiar to get back on track and remember why I love my job. These books feel like a long exhale. I can come to them with an overloaded brain, bad moods and doubt and discontent, and turn the last page restored.

Genevieve's book list on to break you out of a reading slump

Genevieve Novak Why did Genevieve love this book?

A master of the flawed and loveable heroine, O’Donoghue’s writing is both deeply comforting and immensely frustrating – because every wry observation is so relatable I can’t believe I didn’t think of it first.

Exploring life in GFC-era Ireland through the wide eyes of a broke, experience-hungry university student and floundering graduate, this story is a tribute to friendship, self discovery, and all the missteps of newfound freedom.

The deeper into the story I went, the closer I felt to my eighteen-year-old self: naive and desperate not to be, nervous about the power in the currency of youth and eager to spend it, full of love and pride and optimism.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can slap sticky tabs on every page and recall every sparkling insight, quippy conversation, and touching moment.

By Caroline O'Donoghue,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Rachel Incident as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Rachel Incident is an all-consuming love story. But it's not the one you expected...

*2023's MOST ANTICIPATED SUMMER READ*

'Funny, nostalgic, sexy ... it's everything I want in a summer book' MONICA HEISEY
'Funny, LOVELY, romantic, DRENCHED in nostalgia' MARIAN KEYES
'You will love The Rachel Incident' GABRIELLE ZEVIN, author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

The Rachel Incident is an all-consuming love story. But it's not the one you're expecting. It's unconventional and messy. It's young and foolish. It's about losing and finding yourself. But it is always about love.

When Rachel falls in love with her married…


Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

By Jeffrey Dunn,

Book cover of Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

Jeffrey Dunn Author Of Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Creative writer Dream fisher History miner Divergent Dyslexic

Jeffrey's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

A retired English teacher has come home to Appalachia, a land of industrial disaster and natural beauty. He has been enticed with stories of Wildcat’s transformation: of the collective action embodied in Hotel Wildcat as well as the artisanal pursuits springing to life in the old iron mill. But in returning, he must confront his dark memories: the lost love of his hippie chic girlfriend not to mention the lost trust between his middle-class family and working-class Wildcat.

Written in the lyrical grit so characteristic of America’s Rust Belt, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance is a testament to the redemptive potential…

Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

By Jeffrey Dunn,

What is this book about?

Journey into Appalachia's Heart: Love, Loss, and the Resilience of a Forgotten Land

Discover the captivating allure of the Appalachian region as Jeffrey Dunn skillfully weaves a tale of love, loss, and redemption in his exquisitely crafted literary fiction masterpiece, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance. Immerse yourself in the depths of the rust belt's rugged landscapes, where the echoes of industrial disaster intertwine with the sublime beauty of nature, all while the characters navigate the delicate dance between past and future.

In this poignant narrative, our protagonist, a retired English teacher, returns to his roots, lured back to the once-shuttered Hotel…


Book cover of Heft

Barbara Boehm Miller Author Of When You See Her

From my list on plus-sized protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

Being overweight presents an intriguing paradox: being physically large and hard to miss, but also being essentially invisible and easy to ignore. Having struggled with weight for my entire life, I’m very familiar with this juxtaposition of opposites. I wanted to write a novel with a plus-sized protagonist set in a different time, the late 1970s in this case, before the notions of size positivity and body diversity had come to life in society’s collective imagination. For me, this was a way of making fat people more visible in books, especially as main characters. I put together this list of books for the same reason. 

Barbara's book list on plus-sized protagonists

Barbara Boehm Miller Why did Barbara love this book?

Unlike the other recommendations, the plus-sized protagonist in this book is a man. Arthur Opp is a lonely shut-in who has lost his career, his friend, and his family of origin. His main solace is his correspondence with a former student, who, one day, asks him for help in guiding her son, Kel. 

From that point forward, the story is told from the alternating perspectives of Arthur and Kel. Both are plagued by isolation and tragedy. Though Arthur views himself as part of the shared soul of the lonely, he nonetheless begins to welcome people back into his life again and extols the virtues of found family to Kel.

This is a haunting, yet hopeful, book that stays with the reader for a very long time.

By Liz Moore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Heft as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career-if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel's mother, Charlene, a former student of Arthur's. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene's unexpected phone call to Arthur-a plea for help-that jostles them into action. Through Arthur and Kel's own quirky and lovable voices,…


Book cover of The Real Riley Mayes

Brandon T. Snider Author Of Rube Goldberg and His Amazing Machines

From my list on middle-grade reads full of humor & heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who was both a funny kid and a lover of superheroes, it was always exciting to find a book where those two things crossed paths. In the young readers' books I’ve written for Marvel and DC Comics, I always try to inject humor where I can. Humor can be healing. If I couldn’t laugh, especially about things that have caused me pain, I don’t know that I would be around today. I love books about funny, sensitive kids with big hearts. The world is a cold place sometimes, but whenever I see a young person making positive change and having fun along the way, it reminds me that anything is possible.

Brandon's book list on middle-grade reads full of humor & heart

Brandon T. Snider Why did Brandon love this book?

Riley Mays is a little weirdo. I say that with love! I was also a little weirdo when I was her age. And, just like a lot of little weirdos around the world, her peers don’t always “get her,” which can be tough since she’s desperate to fit in. Been there too, girl.

What I admire about Riley is that, after some consternation, she slowly sheds her insecurities and dives head-first into being her truest self. It’s terrifying, exhilarating, and not without complications! But Riley’s sense of humor keeps her afloat, which, as any fan of comedy will tell you, is the key to survival.

It’s the sweetest feeling in the world to find your people. Author Rachel Elliot shows us how to do it.

By Rachel Elliott,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Real Riley Mayes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A Stonewall Book Award Honor * A Sid Fleishman Humor Award Honor

Funny and full of heart, this debut graphic novel is a story about friendship, identity, and embracing all the parts of yourself that make you special.

Fifth grade is just not Riley's vibe. Everyone else is squaded up-except Riley. Her best friend moved away. All she wants to do is draw, and her grades show it.

One thing that makes her happy is her favorite comedian, Joy Powers. Riley loves to watch her old shows and has memorized her best jokes. So when the class is assigned to…


Book cover of The Heart's Invisible Furies

Bart Yates Author Of The Language of Love and Loss

From my list on wiseass narrators and dysfunctional families.

Why am I passionate about this?

The stories I’ve loved the most in my life have all been about the richness of human relationships, told by a memorable narrator who can find humor and hope in almost everything, no matter how screwed up. Whether it’s Charles Dickens poking fun at his contemporaries in Victorian England or Armistead Maupin sending up friendship and love in San Francisco in the 1980s, I’m a sucker for well-told, convoluted, and funny tales about people who find life with other human beings difficult, but still somehow manage to laugh about it and keep on going. As the author of six novels myself, these are the kinds of stories I always try to tell.  

Bart's book list on wiseass narrators and dysfunctional families

Bart Yates Why did Bart love this book?

This is a peculiar and marvelous book about birth families, adopted families, and “found” families, and how each of these can be equally screwed up.

Starting in Ireland in the 1940s, the story is peppered with sharp, clever dialog and vivid, fully-human characters. I love how the narrator struggles with his own heart for decades, unable to decide what he wants, who he loves, what’s right, what’s wrong, etc.—in other words, all the stuff I haven’t figured out yet myself. 

Coincidence also plays a huge role in this book, basically making an ass of everyone, which I find oddly comforting since it reminds me that part of being human is having very little control over my own life. Painfully funny and brilliant from cover to cover. 

By John Boyne,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Heart's Invisible Furies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Compelling and satisfying... At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending' Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit

Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, he's never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as…


Book cover of Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World

Cecilia Muñoz Author Of More than Ready: Be Strong and Be You . . . and Other Lessons for Women of Colour on the Rise

From my list on inspirational books for women color.

Why am I passionate about this?

Things may have gotten better for women compared to our mothers’ and grandmothers’ generations, but that is not to say that it’s easy to navigate work and life, the weight of others’ expectations, and the expectations we place on ourselves. Women of color have a particular set of challenges that others often can’t even see. I have been lucky: I have found wonderful guides and sources of inspiration, and I have been able to pass along what I have learned. Nobody should have to navigate these challenging waters on their own. We need buddies, confidantes, truth-tellers, and sources of inspiration.

Cecilia's book list on inspirational books for women color

Cecilia Muñoz Why did Cecilia love this book?

This is a book that I repeatedly return to when I need to remember how to be strong in the face of trouble. While there’s plenty of trouble in this book, both public and personal, Jen Palmieri is a charming guide to some painful truths that are really familiar to me.

She reminds me to find joy in the work. And she can see the future that we can all shape if we work together; that’s where I want my daughters to live. 

By Jennifer Palmieri,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dear Madam President as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

DEAR MADAM PRESIDENT is an empowering letter from former Hillary Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri to the first woman president, and by extension, to all women working to succeed in any field. By using lessons learned during her experiences with Hillary Clinton, President Obama, and Elizabeth Edwards--to name a few--Palmieri through each chapter creates a forward-thinking framework of inspirational and practical advice for all women everywhere--from boardrooms to living rooms--who are determined to seize control of their lives, their workplaces, and their country. DEAR MADAM PRESIDENT will turn the results of the 2016 election into something incredibly empowering for future…


Book cover of Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity, and Happiness

Rhiannon Beaubien Author Of General Thinking Concepts

From my list on for understanding the world we live in.

Why am I passionate about this?

I want to make the world a better place. After many failed attempts to achieve this goal, I realized that I didn’t understand the world well enough to make a positive impact. Serendipitously, I started working with Farnam Street, a company that is dedicated to mastering the best of what other people have figured out. One of our most significant projects is The Great Mental Models book series, which consists of four volumes of fundamentals about the world. Learning and using the models to co-write this book series is how I found all the books on this list. I plan to give a set to each of my children to give them a jump start on living effectively. 

Rhiannon's book list on for understanding the world we live in

Rhiannon Beaubien Why did Rhiannon love this book?

We are all going to lose someone we love. We are all going to go through the pain of people we care about dying. We are all going to contemplate our mortality at some point and wonder if what we’re doing has much of a point, if we could do better, and if we could make life a little less painful somehow.

Keisha Blair lost her husband when they were both in their thirties, when their son was 8 weeks old. She shares what she learned about building from that wreckage in Holistic Wealth. The book puts the pain of loss front and center, and then offers insights from stories and interviews on how to take care of our money, our relationships, and our spirituality, and thus ourselves.

By Keisha Blair,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Holistic Wealth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Build a better, richer life by following thirty-two lessons that lead to happiness.
Imagine a life where you are financially savvy and independent, living with purpose and generosity while inspiring others. Holistic Wealth will teach you to master these tenets of a happy and joyful life, giving you a greater sense of wholeness and resilience in times of difficulty.
By expanding on the teachings shared in her viral article "My Husband Died at 34; Here Are 40 Life Lessons I Learned From It" author Keisha Blair presents revolutionary strategies that will help you find balance and success. By following actionable,…


Book cover of The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul

Shari Leid Author Of Ask Yourself This: Ultimate Life Lessons From and For My Girlfriends

From my list on helping you live your most imperfectly perfect life.

Why am I passionate about this?

These are the books that changed my life and were the catalyst for a change in career from litigation attorney to life coach. I am also a Friendship expert who is currently traveling the US, meeting a stranger in every state to share a meal with. These books align with the way I live and the energy and lessons that I hope to share with everyone I meet. These are not just books to entertain but also books that have helped me get through some difficult times in life and have helped me find real purpose and meaning in the way I move through life.

Shari's book list on helping you live your most imperfectly perfect life

Shari Leid Why did Shari love this book?

This book changed my life. This is the book that taught me the power of journaling.

I found the journal prompts that the book offers to be useful and appreciate that they provided a guide that helped me define my core beliefs and taught me to listen to my inner voice in a way that brought about an easy method to figure out not only what is truly important to me but this method also helped me to define my goals and purpose in a no-fuss bare bones way.

This book was the catalyst that eventually led me to my career as a life coach. 

By Danielle LaPorte,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Desire Map as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Your bucket list. Quarterly objectives. Strategic plans. Big dreams. Goals. Lots of goals and plans to achieve those goals-no matter what. Except ...

You're not chasing the goal itself, you're actually chasing the feeling that you hope achieving that goal will give you.

Which means we have the procedures of achievement upside down. We go after the stuff we want to have, get, or accomplish, and we hope that we'll be fulfilled when we get there. It's backwards. And it's burning us out.

So what if you first got clear on how you actually wanted to feel in your life,…


Book cover of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Dennis Danvers Author Of The Soothsayer & the Changeling

From my list on transform how we see ourselves in the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

My first true religion was being a boy alone in the woods and feeling a deep connection to nature in all its aspects. I felt a connection with all life and knew myself to be an animal—and gloried in it. Since then, I've learned how vigorously humans fight our animal nature, estranging us from ourselves and the planet. Each of these books invites us to get over ourselves and connect with all life on Earth. 

Dennis' book list on transform how we see ourselves in the world

Dennis Danvers Why did Dennis love this book?

I loved how the novel doesn't reveal right away what it is truly about but lets it dawn on you and then invites you into a moving family story. Another tale of humans and apes, it made me feel the joys and repercussions of deep bonds across species and between siblings.

I was moved by a family that begins as a scientific experiment, struggling to find love and justice and what we like to call humanity, though maybe we need to find another word.

By Karen Joy Fowler,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club introduces a middle-class American family that is ordinary in every way but one in this novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.
 
Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sister Fern, and Rosemary, who begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons. “I was raised with a chimpanzee,” she explains. “I tell you Fern was a chimp and already you aren’t thinking of her as my sister. But until Fern’s expulsion...she was my twin, my funhouse…


Book cover of There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job
Book cover of Expectation: A Novel
Book cover of The Rachel Incident

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