18 books like The Catcher in the Rye

What to read after The Catcher in the Rye — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell · 1949 · ★ 4.2 · 244p · ≈ 8h · Challenging Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, Nineteen Eighty-Four centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and… Shares: Classics

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1920 · ★ 3.9 · 431p · ≈ 14h · Challenging Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvelous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and in no other place. But he will live as a character, we surmise, as long as the memory of any reader lasts. "There was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to… Shares: Classics

Imago bird Nicholas Mosley · 1980 · ★ 3.5 · 185p · ≈ 6h · Moderate "This novel examines the contradictions between the public face and the private experience. Nephew to the prime minister of England, Bert tries to make sense of the grown-up world around him, a colorful crowd of television personalities, politicians, young Trotskyites, pop stars, and eccentric relatives. With the help of his laconic psychoanalyst, Bert questions the relation between exterior and… Shares: Teenage boys, Bildungsromans

All Day Is a Long Time David Sanchez · 2022 · ★ 3.9 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate One of The Millions' "Most Anticipated Books of 2022" One of PureWow’s "10 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in January" One of BookShop.org's "Notable New Releases" One of The New York Times Book Review’s "16 New Books Coming in January" One of Poets & Writers' "New and Noteworthy Books” "David Sanchez's first novel—brilliant, lyrical, hilarious, heartbreaking—is the definitive handbook to… Shares: Runaway teenagers, Teenage boys

Hangsaman Shirley Jackson · 1951 · ★ 3.9 · 280p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything—even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin.… Shares: Adolescence, Interpersonal relations

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: Teenage boys, Bildungsromans

Youth in Revolt C. D. Payne · 1993 · ★ 4.0 · 200p · ≈ 6h · Moderate The hilarious, take-no-prisoners novel about a cynical, sex-obsessed teenager's pining love for an intelligent girl-- now a major motion picture from Dimension Films starring Michael CeraSIX MONTHS IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS TEENAGERYouth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal… Shares: Adolescence, Teenage boys

Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel · 2009 · ★ 3.9 · 653p · ≈ 21h · Moderate Wolf Hall (2009) is a historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel… Shares: Fictional Works, Interpersonal relations

Last Days of Summer Updated Ed Steve Kluger · 1998 · ★ 4.4 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate From Goodreads: The hilarious and heart–warming story about a down–and–out kid who finds inspiration in his favourite baseball hero. In Brooklyn, 1940, a wisecracking, baseball loving twelve–year–old boy, Joey Margolis, is in desperate need of a hero. His rich father has recently divorced his mother, leaving her all but penniless, and she is forced to move herself and her son to an Italian… Shares: Adolescence, Bildungsromans

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky · 1999 · ★ 4.5 · 221p · ≈ 7h · Moderate The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a young adult coming-of-age epistolary novel by American writer Stephen Chbosky, which was first published on February 1, 1999, by Pocket Books. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, an introverted observing teenager, through his freshman year of high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. The novel details Charlie's unconventional style of thinking as he… Shares: Adolescence, Juvenile works, Bildungsromans

Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak Adi Alsaid · 2019 · ★ 3.0 · 331p · ≈ 11h · Moderate A story about being in love with love. Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, popular love-and-dating columnist Lu Charles can’t seem to write another word. Devastated, she spends her time wondering if everything she used to believe about love was a lie. But when Lu overhears another college-bound couple breaking up—before deciding to stay together for one final summer—she is… Shares: Adolescence, Interpersonal relations, Bildungsromans

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole Sue Townsend · 1984 · ★ 4.0 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate If I turn out to be mentally deranged in adult life, it will be all my mother's fault.'Adrian Mole continues to struggle valiantly against the slings and arrows of growing up and his own family's attempts to scar him for life in this second volume of his secret diary. Shares: Adolescence, Teenage boys

East of Eden John Steinbeck, David Wyatt & Susan Shillinglaw Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the interwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of… Shares: Classics

Lord of the Flies William Golding, Lois Lowry & Jennifer Buehler Lord of the Flies is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of prepubescent British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves that lead to a descent into savagery. The novels themes include morality, leadership, and the tension between civility and chaos. Shares: Classics

The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas · 1964 · ★ 4.5 · 242p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Shares: Classics

The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov · 141p · ≈ 4h · Moderate The Master and Margarita () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967 by his widow Elena Bulgakova. The manuscript was first published as a book in 1967, in Paris, France. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official… Shares: Classics

Les Misérables Christine Donougher & Victor Hugo Les Misérables (, ) is a French epic historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television, and the stage, including a musical. Shares: Classics

The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin & Charlie Jane Anders The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, its popularity established Le Guins status as a major author of science fiction. The novel is set in the fictional universe of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin, which she introduced in the 1964 short story "The Dowry of Angyar". It was fourth in… Shares: Classics

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