18 books like Lili

What to read after Lili — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Sons of Heaven Terrence Cheng · 2002 · ★ 3.8 · 324p · ≈ 10h · Moderate "Sons of Heaven is an epic novel set against the backdrop of one of modern history's most haunting events: the Tiananmen Square massacre. In June 1989, the world watched in horror as China's military was mobilized to suppress a student movement that stood for peaceful democracy. Hundreds were killed; some say thousands. No one knows for sure.". "But the image that remains most powerful is that… Shares: China, Bildungsromans, History

The Gadfly Ethel Lilian Voynich · 1897 · 198p · ≈ 6h · Challenging The Gadfly was published in 1897, and its original publishers feared a hostile public reaction to its theme of revolution. Instead, it quickly became a classic of socialism, one of the very first politically aware novels. A story of love and conspiracy, it was based in part on the early life of Sidney Rosenblum, better known as "Reilly Ace of Spies" -- Voynich's boyfriend at the time. Shares: Revolutionaries, History

A Particular Eye for Villainy Ann Granger · 2012 · 373p · ≈ 12h · Moderate From "an accomplished veteran" of crime fiction, a Victorian murder mystery featuring a female sleuth and her detective husband (Kirkus Reviews).When Mr. Thomas Tapley is found bludgeoned to death in his sitting room, his neighbor, Inspector Benjamin Ross of Scotland Yard, is immediately summoned.Little is known about the elusive gentleman until Mr. Jonathan Tapley, QC, hears of the news, and the… Shares: Social conditions, History

Miss Marjoribanks Margaret Oliphant · 1866 · 546p · ≈ 18h · Challenging When Dr. Marjoribanks’s wife dies, his teenage daughter makes it her purpose in life “to be a comfort to dear papa.” At least, Lucilla thinks, ten years of such devotion might suffice, by which time she might have begun to “go off.” But beneath this grand intention lies a yet more ambitious plan: to revolutionize the moribund and constricted social life of Carlingford. She is remarkably… Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

The bent twig Dorothy Canfield Fisher · 1915 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Challenging Unlike other young women of her generation, who were "bred up from childhood to sit behind tea-tables and say the right things to tea-drinkers," Sylvia Marshall - the "twig" of this novel - was reared to think for herself and to trust her own instincts and experience. This, coupled with her passionate temperament, makes Sylvia a compelling figure as she resists efforts to mold her with every… Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

Spartacus Howard Fast · 1951 · ★ 3.9 · 363p · ≈ 12h · Moderate Spartacus, a fictionalization of a slave revolt in ancient Rome in 71 B.C., is well known today partly because of the 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. It was originally published in 1951 by the author himself, after being turned down by every mainstream publisher of the day because of Fast's blacklisting for his Communist Party sympathies. The story of Spartacus, born a… Shares: Revolutionaries, History

Candy Terry Southern · 1964 · ★ 3.9 · 224p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Banned upon its initial publication, the now-classic Candy is a romp of a story about the impossibly sweet Candy Christian, a wide-eyed, luscious, all-American girl. Candy -- a satire of Voltaire's Candide -- chronicles her adventures with mystics, sexual analysts, and everyone she meets when she sets out to experience the world. Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

The Deadman's Pedal Alan Warner · 1999 · ★ 3.9 · 375p · ≈ 12h · Moderate It is the early 1970s and for 16-year-old Simon Crimmons there's really not much to do in the Highlands of Scotland. The only local drama and romance is the West Highland Line, so Simon joins up as a train driver. But that summer he is introduced to a world far more glamorous and strange than the railways can provide. Shares: Social conditions, Bildungsromans

Memoirs of a Revolutionist Peter Kropotkin · 1899 · ★ 4.2 · 502p · ≈ 16h · Challenging Published in Atlantic monthly Sep. 1898-Sep. 1899 under title The autobiography of a revolutionist. Graphic details of Russian conditions and of an eventful life. — A.L.A. Catalog 1904 “Kropotkin’s story is a singularly rich, diversified, and romantic one, and it is attractively told. Nothing more interesting in its way has ever been written than the chapters relating his prison life and escape.… Shares: Revolutionaries, Social conditions, History

Roustabout Michelle Chalfoun · 1996 · ★ 4.3 · 236p · ≈ 7h · Moderate the seedy side of the circus through the eyes of a young female worker Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

Judith Paris Hugh Walpole · 1931 · 782p · ≈ 26h · Challenging Covering the years 1771 to 1822 and set partly in Revolutionary Paris, and partly in romantic Cumbria, Judith Paris is the story of the two very different men who love Walpole's most delightful heroine. Daughter of Francis Herries and Mirabell Starr, Judith was described on publication as "the most delightful of Walpole's heroines." As impetuous, impulsive and passionate as her father, she is… Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans, History

Voyage Out Virginia Woolf · 1915 · ★ 3.8 “The Voyage Out” by Virginia Woolf. This is a story about a young English woman, Rachel, on a sea voyage from London, to a South American coastal city of Santa Marina. As I read the story, the title of the story became a metaphor for Rachel's inner journey. The inner journey within this story is perhaps best summarized in the author's words: “The next few months passed away, as many years… Shares: Social conditions, Young women, Bildungsromans

Running Cara Hoffman · 2017 · ★ 4.3 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate "Running brings together an ensemble of outsiders who get by as "runners"hustlers who sell tourists on low-end accommodations for a small commission and a place to stay. Bridey Sullivan, a young American woman who has fled a peculiar and traumatic upbringing in Washington State, takes up with a queer British couple, the poet Milo Rollack and Eton drop-out Jasper Lethe. Slipping in and out of… Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

三体 刘慈欣 · 2008 · ★ 3.9 · 417p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Cixin Liu's trilogy-opening novel about first contact with aliens and the clandestine struggle with them over Earth's future, and its scientific progress in particular. Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space in an attempt to make contact with aliens—and they succeed. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures… Shares: China, History

Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard · 1984 · ★ 4.0 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate A fictionalized account of the author's experiences as a boy in Shanghai, China, during the Second World War, and in Lunghua C.A.C. (Civilian Assembly Centre), where he was interned from 1942 to 1945. Shares: China, Bildungsromans, History

The Princess Casamassima Henry James · 1886 · 511p · ≈ 17h · Challenging The illegitimate and impoverished son of a dressmaker and a nobleman, Hyacinth Robinson has grown up with a strong sense of beauty that heightens his acute sympathy for the inequalities that surround him. Drawn into a secret circle of radical politics he makes a rash vow to commit a violent act of terrorism. But when the Princess Casamassima—beautiful, clever and bored—takes him up and introduces… Shares: Revolutionaries, History

Che Jon Lee Anderson · 1997 · ★ 4.1 · 819p · ≈ 27h · Moderate "Author obviously admires Guevara and thus tends to exaggerate his role in the Cuban Revolution; however, he has managed a degree of objectivity sufficient for production of the best biography of the guerrilla thus far. Author's research is wide and deep, his work is careful and meticulous, and he always remains close to the facts. Few will continue to venerate the memory of Guevara after reading… Shares: Revolutionaries, History

Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, and Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Shopaholic Series, Books 1, 2, & 3) Sophie Kinsella · 2001 · ★ 4.6 · 310p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Meet Becky Bloomwood, America’s favorite shopaholic—a young woman with a big heart, big dreams…and just one little weakness. Becky has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it—not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Savings not only… Shares: Young women, Bildungsromans

About the book Lili →