Fantasy · Similar reads
Books like Circe
The best books like Circe are The Song of Achilles, The Alchemist, and The Power of Myth. Circe by Madeline Miller is about power and self-determination, isolation and identity, motherhood. 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 Song of Achilles
01
Madeline Miller · Historical fiction
The Song of Achilles retells the story of the Trojan War through the eyes of Patroclus, a clumsy and unexceptional prince who is exiled in childhood and sent to be raised alongside Achilles at Peleus's court.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - The Alchemist
02
Paulo Coelho · Religion & Spirituality
The Alchemist is a Brazilian novel first published in 1988 and translated into 80 languages, making it one of the most translated books in history.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - The Power of Myth
03
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 → - Homage to Catalonia
04
George Orwell · Memoir
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's firsthand account of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, which he joined in late 1936 as a volunteer with the POUM militia — a Trotskyist revolutionary organization that was later suppressed by the Soviet-backed Stalinist wing of the Republican forces.
A kindred fantasy read.
Read the summary → - Beloved
05
Toni Morrison · Literary fiction
Beloved is set in post-Civil War Ohio, where Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, lives with her daughter Denver in a house shadowed by the ghost of a baby she killed rather than let be taken back into slavery.
Both dig into motherhood.
Read the summary → - Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
06
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Atul Gawande · Health
Being Mortal is Atul Gawande's investigation into why modern medicine is so bad at helping people die well.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Between the World and Me
07
Ta-Nehisi Coates · Memoir
Between the World and Me is a letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son, Samori, about what it means to live in a Black body in the United States.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Do No Harm
08
Henry Marsh · Memoir
Do No Harm is Henry Marsh's memoir of life as a senior neurosurgeon in the National Health Service.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
09
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
Oliver Burkeman · Self-help
Four Thousand Weeks is Oliver Burkeman's philosophical attack on the entire project of time management as it is usually practiced.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Gilead
10
Marilynne Robinson · Literary fiction
Gilead is written as a long letter from John Ames, a 76-year-old Congregationalist minister in Iowa, to his seven-year-old son — a letter the boy will not read until he is grown and his father is long dead.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Into the Wild
11
Jon Krakauer · Biography
Into the Wild is Jon Krakauer's account of Christopher McCandless, a twenty-four-year-old who graduated from Emory University in 1990, gave his savings to charity, abandoned his car and possessions, and spent two years drifting through the American West before hitchhiking into the Alaskan wilderness in April 1992.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary → - Into Thin Air
12
Jon Krakauer · Memoir
Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's firsthand account of the May 1996 Everest expedition that killed eight climbers in a single afternoon.
Both dig into mortality.
Read the summary →
Books like Circe: quick answers
What are the best books like Circe?
The best books like Circe by Madeline Miller are The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Circe, such as power and self-determination, isolation and identity, motherhood.
What should I read after Circe?
A natural next read after Circe is The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. A kindred fantasy read. Other strong choices are The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell.
What books are similar to Circe by Madeline Miller?
Circe centers on power and self-determination, isolation and identity, motherhood. Books with a similar feel include The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
