Fantasy · Similar reads
Books like American Gods
The best books like American Gods are The Power of Myth, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and 1984. American Gods by Neil Gaiman is about immigration and belonging, belief and its power, old versus new. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Power of Myth
01
Joseph Campbell · Philosophy
The Power of Myth is the transcript of six hours of conversations between Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers, filmed at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in 1985 and 1986 and broadcast on PBS in 1988, shortly after Campbell's death.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - The Hero with a Thousand Faces
02
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell · Philosophy
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, first published in 1949, is Joseph Campbell's account of the monomyth — his term for the single underlying story structure that, he argues, appears across the world's mythologies, folk tales, and religious narratives.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - 1984
03
George Orwell · Philosophy
Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's 1949 novel about a future England called Airstrip One, governed by the totalitarian Party under the figurehead Big Brother.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary →
- Americanah
04
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · Literary fiction
Americanah follows Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who leaves Lagos for America as a university student and spends fifteen years navigating a country that insists on categorizing her in ways Nigeria never did.
Both dig into immigration and belonging.
Read the summary → - Hook, Line, and Sinker
05
Tessa Bailey · Romance
Hannah Bellinger has always been the dependable one — her sister Piper's anchor, the practical twin who keeps things running.
Both dig into identity and reinvention.
Read the summary → - Lord Jim
06
Joseph Conrad · Literary fiction
Jim is a young British officer on a decrepit steamship carrying hundreds of Muslim pilgrims when, in a moment of crisis he cannot fully explain even to himself, he jumps overboard and abandons them.
Both dig into identity and reinvention.
Read the summary → - Slaughterhouse-Five
07
Kurt Vonnegut · Literary fiction
Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time.
Both dig into american mythology.
Read the summary → - The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
08
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Jonas Jonasson · Contemporary fiction
Allan Karlsson turns one hundred years old in a Swedish nursing home, and rather than sit through his birthday party, he climbs out the window in his slippers and walks away.
Both dig into identity and reinvention.
Read the summary → - The Bride Test
09
Helen Hoang · Romance
The Bride Test is the second novel in Helen Hoang's Kiss Quotient series.
Both dig into immigration and belonging.
Read the summary → - The Human Stain
10
Philip Roth · Literary fiction
Coleman Silk is a seventy-one-year-old classics professor and former dean at Athena College in western Massachusetts who has been driven from his position by a racially charged accusation.
Both dig into identity and reinvention.
Read the summary → - The Lincoln Highway
11
Amor Towles · Literary fiction
The Lincoln Highway unfolds over ten days in June 1954.
Both dig into american mythology.
Read the summary → - The Namesake
12
Jhumpa Lahiri · Literary fiction
The Namesake follows the Ganguli family across three decades, beginning with Ashoke and Ashima's arranged marriage and their immigration from Calcutta to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and extending into the American adulthood of their son, Gogol.
Both dig into immigration and belonging.
Read the summary →
Books like American Gods: quick answers
What are the best books like American Gods?
The best books like American Gods by Neil Gaiman are The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, 1984 by George Orwell, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with American Gods, such as immigration and belonging, belief and its power, old versus new.
What should I read after American Gods?
A natural next read after American Gods is The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. A kindred fantasy read. Other strong choices are The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, 1984 by George Orwell, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
What books are similar to American Gods by Neil Gaiman?
American Gods centers on immigration and belonging, belief and its power, old versus new. Books with a similar feel include The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, 1984 by George Orwell, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey, Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
