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Ficton and Non-fiction describing the experience of immigrants.
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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The Joy Luck Club
by
Amy Tan (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 705,404 ratings
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| 2 |
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The Kite Runner
by
Khaled Hosseini (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 3,429,410 ratings
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| 3 |
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The Namesake
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4.02 avg rating — 281,332 ratings
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| 4 |
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The House on Mango Street
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3.69 avg rating — 225,917 ratings
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| 5 |
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Interpreter of Maladies
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4.18 avg rating — 204,136 ratings
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| 6 |
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Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)
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4.15 avg rating — 653,276 ratings
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| 7 |
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My Ántonia
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3.84 avg rating — 145,724 ratings
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| 8 |
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An Ishmael of Syria
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3.81 avg rating — 631 ratings
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| 9 |
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Americanah
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4.31 avg rating — 405,313 ratings
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| 10 |
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Middlesex
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4.04 avg rating — 659,222 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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3.89 avg rating — 276,217 ratings
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| 12 |
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White Teeth
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3.79 avg rating — 172,137 ratings
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| 13 |
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Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls, #1)
by
Lisa See (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 161,428 ratings
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| 14 |
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Unaccustomed Earth
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4.14 avg rating — 96,003 ratings
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| 15 |
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Cutting for Stone
by
Abraham Verghese (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 420,535 ratings
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| 16 |
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Girl in Translation
by
Jean Kwok (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 58,358 ratings
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| 17 |
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The Bonesetter's Daughter
by
Amy Tan (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 132,251 ratings
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| 18 |
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
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4.20 avg rating — 88,026 ratings
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| 19 |
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The Kitchen God's Wife
by
Amy Tan (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 87,430 ratings
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| 20 |
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The Jungle
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3.78 avg rating — 153,053 ratings
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| 21 |
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The Hundred Secret Senses
by
Amy Tan (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 46,355 ratings
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| 22 |
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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by
Jamie Ford (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 312,861 ratings
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| 23 |
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Brick Lane
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3.46 avg rating — 35,384 ratings
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| 24 |
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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
by
Jonathan Safran Foer (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 432,822 ratings
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| 25 |
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The Arrival
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4.35 avg rating — 59,376 ratings
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| 26 |
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Little Bee
by
Chris Cleave (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 247,582 ratings
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| 27 |
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Roots: The Saga of an American Family
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4.45 avg rating — 164,005 ratings
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| 28 |
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O Pioneers!
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3.90 avg rating — 57,707 ratings
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| 29 |
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Esperanza Rising
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4.04 avg rating — 112,148 ratings
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| 30 |
|
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
by
Julia Alvarez (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 32,356 ratings
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| 31 |
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The Thorn Birds
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4.25 avg rating — 362,321 ratings
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| 32 |
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Daughter of Fortune
by
Isabel Allende (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 138,871 ratings
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| 33 |
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The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
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3.73 avg rating — 33,465 ratings
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| 34 |
|
The Tortilla Curtain
by
T. Coraghessan Boyle (Goodreads Author)
3.66 avg rating — 34,205 ratings
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| 35 |
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)
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4.27 avg rating — 226,588 ratings
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| 36 |
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Pachinko
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4.34 avg rating — 595,736 ratings
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| 37 |
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The Buddha in the Attic
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3.70 avg rating — 62,900 ratings
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| 38 |
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist
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3.73 avg rating — 83,165 ratings
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| 39 |
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
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4.30 avg rating — 503,581 ratings
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| 40 |
|
Infidel
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4.20 avg rating — 92,217 ratings
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| 41 |
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Breath, Eyes, Memory
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3.90 avg rating — 31,032 ratings
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| 42 |
|
The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)
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4.40 avg rating — 456,386 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Inheritance of Loss
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3.46 avg rating — 54,671 ratings
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| 44 |
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'Tis
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3.74 avg rating — 65,678 ratings
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| 45 |
|
Digging to America
by
Anne Tyler (Goodreads Author)
3.59 avg rating — 23,331 ratings
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| 46 |
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Lolita
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3.87 avg rating — 927,219 ratings
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| 47 |
|
Starting Over
by
Laura Rittenhouse (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 19 ratings
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| 48 |
|
Exodus
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4.34 avg rating — 101,053 ratings
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| 49 |
|
How to Be an American Housewife
by
Margaret Dilloway (Goodreads Author)
3.65 avg rating — 13,598 ratings
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| 50 |
|
The Book of Unknown Americans
by
Cristina Henríquez (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 45,761 ratings
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| 51 |
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Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
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3.84 avg rating — 27,213 ratings
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| 52 |
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Managing Bubbie
by
Russel Lazega (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 507 ratings
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| 53 |
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When I Was Puerto Rican
by
Esmeralda Santiago (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 13,584 ratings
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| 54 |
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Small Island
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4.01 avg rating — 37,435 ratings
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| 55 |
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The Thing Around Your Neck
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4.23 avg rating — 48,922 ratings
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| 56 |
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Bless Me, Ultima
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3.82 avg rating — 36,845 ratings
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| 57 |
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
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3.45 avg rating — 36,462 ratings
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| 58 |
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The Quiet American
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3.98 avg rating — 69,614 ratings
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| 59 |
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Those Who Save Us
by
Jenna Blum (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 103,120 ratings
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| 60 |
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Drown
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4.01 avg rating — 37,074 ratings
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| 61 |
|
A Pale View of Hills
by
Kazuo Ishiguro (Goodreads Author)
3.79 avg rating — 41,831 ratings
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| 62 |
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The Chosen (Reuven Malther, #1)
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4.07 avg rating — 96,590 ratings
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| 63 |
|
And the Mountains Echoed
by
Khaled Hosseini (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 398,385 ratings
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| 64 |
|
Let the Great World Spin
by
Colum McCann (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 109,094 ratings
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| 65 |
|
Teacher Man: A Memoir
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3.76 avg rating — 39,811 ratings
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| 66 |
|
Zeitoun
by
4.05 avg rating — 79,817 ratings
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| 67 |
|
Milena: & Other Social Reforms
by
4.07 avg rating — 81 ratings
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| 68 |
|
The Mistress of Spices
by
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Goodreads Author)
3.48 avg rating — 14,773 ratings
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| 69 |
|
American Born Chinese
by
Gene Luen Yang (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 100,595 ratings
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| 70 |
|
The Road Home
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3.88 avg rating — 10,511 ratings
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| 71 |
|
Mama's Bank Account
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4.25 avg rating — 3,362 ratings
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| 72 |
|
The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)
by
Helene Wecker (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 130,094 ratings
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| 73 |
|
Honolulu
by
Alan Brennert (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 25,264 ratings
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| 74 |
|
The Covert Buccaneer
by
S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour (Goodreads Author)
4.90 avg rating — 20 ratings
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| 75 |
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Behold the Dreamers
by
Imbolo Mbue (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 84,937 ratings
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| 76 |
|
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
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4.05 avg rating — 11,186 ratings
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| 77 |
|
We Need New Names
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3.75 avg rating — 23,143 ratings
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| 78 |
|
Exit West
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3.74 avg rating — 148,992 ratings
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| 79 |
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Caramelo
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3.93 avg rating — 13,033 ratings
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| 80 |
|
The Book Thief
by
Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 2,824,233 ratings
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| 81 |
|
Lucy
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3.83 avg rating — 14,235 ratings
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| 82 |
|
Annie’s Stories (Ellis Island, #2)
by
Cindy Thomson (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 196 ratings
score: 898,
and
9 people voted
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| 83 |
|
Angle of Repose
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4.24 avg rating — 61,553 ratings
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| 84 |
|
The Emigrants (The Emigrants, #1)
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4.20 avg rating — 9,595 ratings
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| 85 |
|
Ignorance
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3.81 avg rating — 27,265 ratings
score: 857,
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9 people voted
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| 86 |
|
When the Emperor Was Divine
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3.81 avg rating — 29,935 ratings
score: 856,
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9 people voted
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| 87 |
|
On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family
by
Lisa See (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 11,088 ratings
score: 853,
and
9 people voted
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| 88 |
|
The Feast of the Goat
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4.35 avg rating — 41,481 ratings
score: 850,
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9 people voted
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| 89 |
|
Molly's Pilgrim
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4.10 avg rating — 1,270 ratings
score: 838,
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9 people voted
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| 89 |
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Anil's Ghost
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3.59 avg rating — 18,697 ratings
score: 838,
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9 people voted
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| 91 |
|
On Beauty
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3.78 avg rating — 89,720 ratings
score: 823,
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9 people voted
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| 92 |
|
The Light of Eternal Spring
by
Angel Di Zhang (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 518 ratings
score: 800,
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8 people voted
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| 93 |
|
Grace's Pictures (Ellis Island #1)
by
Cindy Thomson (Goodreads Author)
3.68 avg rating — 542 ratings
score: 794,
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8 people voted
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| 94 |
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Out of Place
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3.99 avg rating — 3,484 ratings
score: 790,
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8 people voted
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| 95 |
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Giants in the Earth
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4.03 avg rating — 6,096 ratings
score: 782,
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9 people voted
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| 96 |
|
Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam
by
Andrew X. Pham (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 6,644 ratings
score: 765,
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8 people voted
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| 97 |
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Homegoing
by
Yaa Gyasi (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 391,636 ratings
score: 759,
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8 people voted
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| 98 |
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Oscar and Lucinda
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3.73 avg rating — 21,698 ratings
score: 733,
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8 people voted
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| 99 |
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The Master Butchers Singing Club
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4.07 avg rating — 26,089 ratings
score: 720,
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8 people voted
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| 100 |
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The Buddha of Suburbia
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3.75 avg rating — 20,740 ratings
score: 717,
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8 people voted
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1,000 books ·
1,428 voters ·
list created July 19th, 2008
by Jessica Haider (votes) .
Tags:
african-american-fiction, african-american-literature, african-literature, anthropology, arab, asian-american, asian-american-fiction, caribbean-fiction, diaspora, ethnic, ethnicity, fiction, geography, hispanic, historical-fiction, immigrant, immigration, indian-fiction, latin-american, latin-american-fiction, latino, literary-fiction, migration, non-fiction, short-stories, sociology, south-asian-literature
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
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message 1:
by
mlady_rebecca
(new)
Apr 15, 2011 10:03PM
Just an FYI. Since you've tagged this list with aliens, it's showing up under the Science Fiction > Aliens genre.
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My vote is for Tortilla Curtain. Here's a post about Tortilla Curtain's relevance to the current immigration reform debate: http://newsworthynovels.blogspot.com/...
How are we defining "immigrant" here? I was surprised to see Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, since the protagonists were Japanese-Americans, born in the USA. It's an awesome book, but I am concerned about the political point of labeling the main characters exactly the way the US government did back then.Another one: Chinua Achebe's No Longer At Ease is NOT an immigrant story. I don't want to mess with the contributions if Jessica is still here and active, since she started it. But it should be recognized that not everyone who comes to the USA, UK, or other western countries prefers to live in the USA or other parts of the West, and in the case of Achebe's protagonist, he goes to England, gets his education, leaves to go back to Nigeria. Thousands if not more do this very thing every year. A person who lives in the UK,US or elsewhere for a limited time, and with a limited purpose, is not an immigrant, they are a visitor. This touches a personal chord for me, because I am married to a citizen of another country who lives in the USA, and well-intended people are constantly trying to hyphenate my spouse with "-American", and repeatedly we have to say, "Actually, no." There is a bias to the assumption that whoever sets foot on these golden shores must SURELY want to stay here forever.
Removed for not being about the immigrant experience/author spamming:The Girls on Rose Hill
Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China
The Farther I Walk, the Closer I Get to Me b. Hong Mei
Hm. Bless Me, Ultima is on here, but it's most certainly not about immigrants or even immigration. Do people just assume that because it's about Spanish-speakers in New Mexico they immigrated there? They were there before it became part of the US...
Wow, there are sooo many books on this list that just do not belong by any stretch of the imagination. O.o
I understand why there are so many votes for Roots, but "immigrant" isn't the right descriptor there.
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