Books like…

Books Like The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini · about this book

Loved The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? If its emotional, literary fiction and first person narrator hooked you, these 20 books hit the same notes — starting with Cutting for Stone, Middlesex and The Song of Achilles. Every pick is matched by what’s actually inside the book, not just its genre, and we skip other books by the same author so you find someone new.

What’s inside The Kite Runner: Emotional · Literary Fiction · First Person Narrator · Redemption Arc · Male Lead

1. 

   Cutting for Stone

   Abraham Verghese

   Immigrant Protagonist · Immigration · Father and Son · Literary Fiction · Friendship and Betrayal

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2. 

   Middlesex

   Jeffrey Eugenides

   Immigration · Immigrant Protagonist · Cultural Identity · Literary Fiction · Family Secrets

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3. 

   The Song of Achilles

   Madeline Miller

   Tearjerker · War Zone · Tragic · Emotional · Coming of Age

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4. 

   A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

   Anthony Marra

   Tragic · Survivor's Guilt · War and Its Aftermath · War Zone · Literary Fiction

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5. 

   All the Broken Places

   John Boyne

   Survivor's Guilt · War and Its Aftermath · Tragic · Family Secrets · Redemption Arc

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6. 

   Pachinko

   Min Jin Lee

   Immigrant Protagonist · Immigration · Literary Fiction · Classism · Cultural Identity

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7. 

   The Last Rose of Shanghai

   Weina Dai Randel

   Refugee Experience · War and Its Aftermath · Immigration · Tragic · Cultural Identity

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8. 

   The Nightingale

   Kristin Hannah

   War Zone · Tearjerker · Tragic · War and Its Aftermath · Sexual Assault Content

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9. 

   The Complete Maus

   Art Spiegelman

   Survivor's Guilt · Father and Son · Tragic · Emotional · Historical Fiction

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10. 

    Nowhere Boy

    Katherine Marsh

    Immigrant Protagonist · Immigration · Refugee Experience · War and Its Aftermath · Father and Son

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11. 

    Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

    R.F. Kuang

    Immigrant Protagonist · Friendship and Betrayal · Tragic · Cultural Identity · Historical Fiction

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12. 

    Ham On Rye

    Charles Bukowski

    Father and Son · Childhood Trauma · Literary Fiction · Classism · First Person Narrator

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13. 

    The Outsiders

    S.E. Hinton

    Tearjerker · Tragic · Emotional · First Person Narrator · Male Lead

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14. 

    Atonement

    Ian McEwan

    Tragic · War Zone · Survivor's Guilt · Literary Fiction · Classism

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15. 

    On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

    Ocean Vuong

    Immigrant Protagonist · Immigration · Literary Fiction · Emotional · Cultural Identity

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16. 

    The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak

    Tearjerker · Tragic · Emotional · Coming of Age · Literary Fiction

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17. 

    The German Wife

    Kelly Rimmer

    Immigrant Protagonist · War and Its Aftermath · Immigration · Tragic · Emotional

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18. 

    Lolita

    Vladimir Nabokov

    Sexual Assault Content · Childhood Trauma · Tragic · Literary Fiction · Immigrant Protagonist

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19. 

    Les Misérables

    Victor Hugo

    Redemption Arc · Tragic · Literary Fiction · Emotional · Historical Fiction

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20. 

    Matterhorn

    Karl Marlantes

    Tragic · War and Its Aftermath · War Zone · Coming of Age · Literary Fiction

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