Books like 'Secret Life'
Readers who enjoyed Secret Life by Theo Ellsworth & Jeff VanderMeer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
25 ratingsIn this new Zamonian adventure, Optimus Yarnspinner, a young writer, inherits from his beloved godfather an unpublished short story by an unknown author. His search for the author’s identity takes him to Bookholm the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure audiobook book children -
![Rectify Injustice by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle]()
Rectify Injustice by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle
8 ratingsSophia Beaufont hopes that she can turn an enemy into an ally. She just has to trqck down the steampunk cyborg.The problem is that Trin Currante thinks that Dragon Elite want her dead. And she's excellent at avoiding death - as her history of surviving and prevailing over adversity has shown.Meanwhile, Hiker still still struggles to hone his powers. .Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age crime -
![The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James]()
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman, Marlon James
10 ratingsAn outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved... -
![Neverwhere: BBC Dramatisation by Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs]()
Neverwhere: BBC Dramatisation by Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs
19 ratingsBeneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere.An act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into a subterranean world under the streets of London... -
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![Arbitrate or Die by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle]()
Arbitrate or Die by Sarah Noffke, Michael Anderle
14 ratingsDragons are almost extinct. Eggs are rare. The dragons alive are in danger. All because of one man. Thad Reinhart doesn’t just want dragonriders gone because their role as adjudicators threatens his businesses. His grudge is personal. But there’s one thing he didn’t anticipate. S. Beaufont isn’t like any dragonrider before. She is modern. She thinks differently...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age crime -
![End of the Game and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar]()
End of the Game and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar
18 ratingsEnd of the game is one of the most important collections of stories of the second half of the 20th century. Engaged in transgressing the laws of conventional narrative, in these eighteen stories Julio Cortázar combines intertextuality, an unpublished use of the colloquial and endless game to bring the reader into a particular universe where nothing is what it seems...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies]()
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
18 ratingsThe complete volume of Robertson Davies's acclaimed trilogy, featuring Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders, with a new foreword by Kelly Link Fifth Business Ramsay is a man twice born, a man who has returned from the hell of the battle-grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Who's a Good Boy? by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor]()
Who's a Good Boy? by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
8 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novels It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season Four of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, a foreword by Jonny Sun, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies comedy -
![American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman]()
American Gods + Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
14 ratingsNewly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman...Categorized as:
drama low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook classics -
![Last Light by Dean Koontz]()
Last Light by Dean Koontz
18 ratingsWith just a touch, Makani Hisoka-O’Brien can see the deepest secrets that others conceal—and it frightens her. There’s danger in the terrible knowledge that floods her mind and haunts her conscience.With just a touch, Rainer Sparks can learn the biggest problems that others bear—and it thrills him. There’s profit to be made making problems go away, by any means . . . including murder... -
![Dragon's Plight by John P. Logsdon, Orlando A. Sanchez]()
Dragon's Plight by John P. Logsdon, Orlando A. Sanchez
6 ratingsWhat do you call an unarmed PPD officer in the middle of the Badlands? A victim. Chief Zeke Phoenix survived his funeral party…barely. Now survival turns into mayhem management as he works to turn his team's begrudging respect into a force that’ll keep the Badlands in check. When an unmarked package hits his desk, mayhem turns to chaos... -
![The Buying of Lot 37 by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor]()
The Buying of Lot 37 by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
8 ratingsFrom the authors of the New York Times bestselling novels It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season Three of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, a foreword by Dessa, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult book comedy -
![Demon Dentist by David Walliams]()
Demon Dentist by David Walliams
24 ratingsThis New York Times bestseller from David Walliams, the UK’s #1 bestselling children’s author and “the heir to Roald Dahl” (The Spectator), launched his books stateside in a big way!Walliams makes going to the dentist a wacky adventure with his signature humor—this is one dentist appointment you don’t want to miss.Something strange is happening in Alfie's town...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![Ballistic Kiss: A Sandman Slim Novel by Richard Kadrey]()
Ballistic Kiss: A Sandman Slim Novel by Richard Kadrey
15 ratings"I loved where Kadrey started with this series, but I love where he's going even more."-- NYT Bestselling author Cory DoctorowSandman Slim is back in Los Angeles and kicking more supernatural ass in this inventive, high-octane page-turner—the next to last volume in the popular and acclaimed fantasy adventure series from New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book dark-fantasy -
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![Miss Peregrine's Journal for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs]()
Miss Peregrine's Journal for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
6 ratingsRecord your thoughts or create your own peculiar stories in this beautifully designed journal, filled with vintage black-and-white photos and quotes from all three novels in the Peculiar Children series. Life is full of surprises. Things are rarely what they seem. We all have secret hidden talents. These are some of the lessons that Miss Peregrine’s students learn, sometimes the hard way... -
![Homesick: Stories by Nino Cipri]()
Homesick: Stories by Nino Cipri
8 ratingsDark, irreverent, and truly innovative, the speculative stories in Homesick meditate on the theme of home and our estrangement from it, and what happens when the familiar suddenly shifts into the uncanny... -
![The Empathetic Life of Rebecca Wright by Shawn Inmon]()
The Empathetic Life of Rebecca Wright by Shawn Inmon
8 ratingsFrom the outside, Rebecca Wright had an enviable life, and she enjoyed that envy. She had a beautiful house, handsome husband, and a no-limit credit card. What she didn't have was empathy. But, it's never too late in Middle Falls. A lesson that isn't learned in one lifetime can be learned in the next, or the next. Rebecca may need every chance she can get... -
![The Five Masks of Dr. Screem by R.L. Stine]()
The Five Masks of Dr. Screem by R.L. Stine
10 ratingsWelcome to the Hall of Horrors, HorrorLand's Hall of Fame for the truly terrifying.It's Halloween and Monica Anderson is out Trick-or-Treating with her younger brother. They knock on the door of an old, creepy house and are met by a strange woman who pleads for their help. Every year she must battle for the control of five sacred masks with the evil Dr. Screem... -
![Spot and Smudge by Robert Udulutch]()
Spot and Smudge by Robert Udulutch
10 ratingsThe speculative fiction thriller that masterfully kicks off the series! This darkly humorous, wonderfully twisted, 'boy and his dogs' tale has been bitten, kicked in the crotch, attacked by a pack of wild dogs, and genetically modified into a superbly crafted story...Categorized as:
humor magical-realism action-adventure adult book fiction genetic-engineering horror -
![Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton]()
Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton
12 ratingsMOST ANTICIPATED by Bustle • "Sci-Fi Thriller" recommendation from Buzzfeed • An Indie Next PickIn this stunning follow-up to Hollow Kingdom and Seattle Times/Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association bestseller, the animal kingdom's "favorite apocalyptic hero"is back with a renewed sense of hope for humanity, ready to take on a world ravaged by a viral pandemic (Helen Macdonald)...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism outdoors action-adventure adult animals -
![Dark is Her Nature by Judith Berens, Martha Carr]()
Dark is Her Nature by Judith Berens, Martha Carr
12 ratingsFor Hire: Teachers for special school in Virginia countryside. Must be able to handle teenagers with special abilities. Cannot be afraid to discipline werewolves, wizards, elves and other assorted hormonal teens. Apply at the School of Necessary Magic. Alison is a young Drow princess whose power is just beginning to grow inside of her – too bad for the dark forces after her...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure audiobook book comedy coming-of-age -
![The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror by Daniel Pinkwater]()
The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror by Daniel Pinkwater
6 ratingsGreat questions have always been raised by literature. Moby Dick asks, "Doesn't anyone ever get seasick?" The Odyssey asks, "Doesn't anyone ever get seasick?" The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror asks: "Why doesn't everyone get food poisoning? How do they survive so many greasy snacks?" "Is Dr...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children -
![Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 11 by Ao Jyumonji]()
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 11 by Ao Jyumonji
6 ratings"I'll do what I have to. I'll do it. Now." Gritting his teeth, and bracing his legs, Haruhiro faces the guorella onslaught once more. He rouses himself with a sense of purpose, and tries to avert his eyes from the reality of her death. Then, when he finds himself facing a regret and despair greater than he can handle, that mysterious man, Jessie, whispers to him, "There is a way. Just one... -
![The Bone Fire by György Dragomán]()
The Bone Fire by György Dragomán
12 ratingsFrom an award-winning European writer, a Gothic page-turner with all the menace and promise of a fairy tale In the aftermath of a revolution that has plunged her country into chaos, thirteen-year-old Emma’s small corner of the world is shattered after her dissident parents' death in a car crash...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult book coming-of-age contemporary -
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![The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott]()
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
14 ratingsRen lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading—and forgetting.But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into her impossible mission...Categorized as:
literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism outdoors 21st-century action-adventure adult animals -
![The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell]()
The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell
14 ratingsThe hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.Dear Morrissey,I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...It's 1991...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age contemporary fiction -
![The Last Dark by Stephen R. Donaldson]()
The Last Dark by Stephen R. Donaldson
16 ratingsCompelled step by step to actions whose consequences they could neither see nor prevent, Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery have fought for what they love in the magical reality known only as "the Land." Now they face their final crisis...Categorized as:
low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook dark dark-fantasy -
![Stirred by J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch]()
Stirred by J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch
18 ratingsThis Bonus Content Edition includes an authors' introduction, afterword interview between J.A. Konrath and Blake Crouch, a linked cast of characters and storyline endnotes, and more! Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has seen humanity at its most depraved and terrifying. She's lost loved ones. Come close to death countless times. But she always manages to triumph over evil... -
![The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, Mikolaj Dutsch]()
The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, Mikolaj Dutsch
20 ratingsThe Street of Crocodiles in the Polish city of Drogobych is a street of memories and dreams where recollections of Bruno Schulz's uncommon boyhood and of the eerie side of his merchant family's life are evoked in a startling blend of the real and the fantastic... -
![The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury]()
The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury
20 ratingsSet the controls for the heart of the sun.The Captain bent in the warm air, cursing, felt his hands run over the cold machine, and while he worked he saw a future which was removed from them by the merest breath. He saw the skin peel from the rocket beehive, men thus revealed running, running, mouths shrieking, soundless. Space was a black mossed well where life drowned its roars and terrors...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![The City of Mist: Stories by Carlos Ruiz Zafón]()
The City of Mist: Stories by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
20 ratingsReturn to the mythical Barcelona library known as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in this posthumous collection of stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind and The Labyrinth of the Spirits...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook dark -
![Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake]()
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
24 ratingsTitus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, and death...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Cuentos de Amor de Locura y de Muerte by Horacio Quiroga]()
Cuentos de Amor de Locura y de Muerte by Horacio Quiroga
24 ratingsThis collection of stories includes tales about illness, despair, exile, and human brutality. The author himself compiled the selection. Held to be among the greatest writers of short-fiction, Horacio Quiroga has been compared to Kipling and Poe...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies audiobook -
![The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington]()
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
18 ratingsLeonora Carrington, the distinguished British-born Surrealist painter is also a writer of extraordinary imagination and charm. Exact Change launched a program of reprinting her fiction with what is perhaps her best loved book...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult aging -
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![The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz, Jonathan Safran Foer]()
The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz, Jonathan Safran Foer
18 ratingsThe collected fiction of "one of the most original imaginations in modern Europe" (Cynthia Ozick) Bruno Schulz's untimely death at the hands of a Nazi stands as one of the great losses to modern literature. During his lifetime, his work found little critical regard, but word of his remarkable talents gradually won him an international readership... -
![The Umbrella Man and Other Stories by Roald Dahl]()
The Umbrella Man and Other Stories by Roald Dahl
18 ratingsIs it really possible to invent a machine that does the job of a writer? What is it about the landlady’s house that makes it so hard for her guests to leave? Does Sir Basil Turton value most his wife or one of his priceless sculptures? These compelling tales are a perfect introduction to the adult writing of a storytelling genius...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children children-books -
![The Cloven by Brian Catling]()
The Cloven by Brian Catling
10 ratingsThe Cloven is the epic climax to B. Catling's beloved genre-busting Vorrh Trilogy. A Vintage Books Original.In the stunning conclusion to Brian Catling's Vorrh trilogy, the colonial city of Essenwald gives up all its secrets, as the ancient forest seeks to reclaim what has been taken from it... -
![Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell]()
Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell
8 ratingsCelestial beings and human witches clash for the future of the human and fairy worlds in this exciting conclusion to the Witches of Lychford seriesThere are changes in the air, both in Lychford and in the land of fairy.The magical protections previously employed by the town are gone, and the forces of darkness are closing in – both figuratively and literally...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult audiobook book contemporary -
![The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle]()
The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle
8 ratingsAn odd couple patrols a county full of mythological beasts and ornery locals. A familiar youngster from the world of The Last Unicorn is gifted in magic but terrible at spell-casting. A seemingly incorruptible judge meets his match in a mysterious thief who steals his heart. Two old friends discover that the Overneath goes anywhere, including locations better left unvisited...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary dragons -
![Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker]()
Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker
8 ratingsThe end of the improbable road.Since stumbling from their world into the Up-and-Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas, and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise...Categorized as:
magical-realism low-fantasy fantasy middle-grade audiobook fiction young-adult magic -
![Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar]()
Salamanca by Dean Francis Alfar
6 ratingsDean Alfar's first novel is about the sorcery wrought by love, lust, and literature, by friendship, family, and the Filipino nation...Categorized as:
drama low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure adult anti-hero book coming-of-age -
![Vacation by Jeremy C. Shipp]()
Vacation by Jeremy C. Shipp
6 ratingsIt's time for blueblood Bernard Johnson to leave his boring life behind and go on The Vacation, a yearlong corporate-sponsored odyssey. But instead of seeing the world, Bernard is captured by terrorists, becomes a key figure in secret drug wars, and, worse, doesn't once miss his secure American Dream... -
![Hunters & Collectors by Matt Suddain]()
Hunters & Collectors by Matt Suddain
6 ratingsJohn Tamberlain is The Tomahawk, the universe’s most feared food critic – though he himself prefers the term ‘forensic gastronomer’. He’s on a quest, in search of the much-storied Hotel Grand Skies, a secretive and exclusive haven where the rich and famous retreat to bask in perfect seclusion... -
![Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Beata Poźniak]()
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Beata Poźniak
35 ratingsFINALIST FOR THE 2019 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZEIn a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction magical-realism outdoors 21st-century action-adventure adult -
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![The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien]()
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
24 ratingsThe Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction low-fantasy magical-realism 20th-century absurdism action-adventure -
![Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl]()
Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
20 ratingsIn Switch Bitch four tales of seduction and suspense are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl.Topping and tailing this collection are The Visitor and Bitch, stories featuring Dahl's notorious hedonist Oswald Hendryks Cornelius (or plain old Uncle Oswald) whose exploits are frequently as extraordinary as they are scandalous...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann]()
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
20 ratingsThe New York Times Best Historical Fiction of 2020 The Guardian's Best Fiction of 2020Thrillist's Best Books of the YearDaniel Kehlmann transports the medieval legend of the trickster Tyll Ulenspiegel to the seventeenth century in an enchanting work of magical realism, macabre humor, and rollicking adventure...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction magical-realism 21st-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler]()
The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
12 ratingsA new trade release of the hugely popular book club series by Mike Thaler and Jared Lee. These fun-filled chapter books mix school, monsters, and common kid problems with hilarious results.Oh, no! It's the class trip from the Black Lagoon. The kids have no idea where they're going but they imagine a day full of ferocious animals, maniacal monsters, and scary aerial acrobatics... -
![I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell, Charles Santoso]()
I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell, Charles Santoso
12 ratingsWhat’s not to love about a cute, cuddly...creepy toy koala? This is the story of a boy and the stuffed animal he just can’t seem to shake.Adam does not like Koala. Koala is a little creepy. Adam tries explaining this to his parents. He tries putting Koala away—far away. He tries taking Koala on a long, long walk. Nothing works...Categorized as:
humor low-fantasy magical-realism action-adventure animals book children children-books -
![King Con: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell]()
King Con: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell
12 ratingsWhen it comes to creating unforgettable criminal characters, nobody does it better than Emmy Award winner Stephen J. Cannell, the force behind such acclaimed TV hits as "The Rockford Files," "The Commish," "Wiseguy," and "The A-Team." Now come Cannell's most engaging characters yet—a spirited assortment of clever con artists.King Con vs...
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