Our Imperfect List of Books Like TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

Set in 20th century Korea, this multigenerational saga builds a world of stories around its female protagonist. Pachinko explores the deep ties within the family, ever-evolving with the changing circumstances. The group in Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow are close-knit, to the point of impacting each other’s paths in life. Similarly, Pachinko shows the insights of multiple life stories coming together and influencing the choices of the people around them. It is a heavy tome, both in physical size and the nature of its storytelling.

The book was one of the most popular in 2017, with the adaptation released in 2022. For more books like Pachinko, check out Senjuti’s suggestions here.

If you knew what would happen, would you still do it? I suppose that is both the bitch and the blessing of hindsight and something to consider after reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  It’s a similar premise to The Measure, where everyone in the world wakes up to the opportunity to know the exact number of years you will live. Would this knowledge change how you live? Would it change your relationships? The Measure is a fantastic speculative novel exploring the value we place on time and opportunity with those dear to us. For me, I like how these two books can comparatively address feelings of regret and hope in a world of “what if?”

Still on the theme of 20/20 hindsight, here’s a story of how time can change our perspective. This Time Tomorrow has a dash of time travel, akin to the TV series Life on Mars. That whole thing about reliving a period in your life but now, with the wisdom of adulthood *cough, cough*, you see things differently. For Alice, that means revisiting her 16th birthday and her then-40-year-old dad. The similarity between Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, This Time and Tomorrow, and also The Measure is the concept of whether our life expectancy truly changes anything. It’s a nice link back to Macbeth’s infamous closing quotes.

If you read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and feel it had too many triggers, then please skip this recommendation. While A Little Life is a brilliant depiction of life experiences and human relationships, it is a dangerous and volatile story that can elicit very strong responses from any reader — Book Rioter Susie mentioned in her list of 12 Books to Make You Ugly Cry. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read it! This coming-of-age story centres on four ambitious and intelligent male characters who are randomly assigned as roommates and form strong bonds for life. Like Sam and Sadie, the four friends have much to work through. Life sucks. This book can be horrible and upsetting at times. But it is beautifully written and an excellent display of surviving life. Maybe not succeeding but at least, sometimes, surviving.

Friendships flex and flow with life, but it can be a real test when they are built on crime — so I’ve read. Similar to Sadie and Sam’s friendship, the friends in Counterfeit are brought together with genius but tested on their morals. Their shared “project” is a counterfeit handbag scheme leading to a successful empire. Ava has a pretty awesome life, but she often wonders how different it would be if she hadn’t followed the rules so much. Her old roommate, Winnie, is happy to show her. Winnie recruits Ava to help her import and sell counterfeit designer handbags. When things go wrong, Winnie disappears, and Ava is left with a shattered mess. When a friendship is built on “moral flexibility,” it’s hard to tell who is really the hurt party.

If you loved seeing two friends come together in a creative collaboration, then this is the book for you. In pre-WWII America, Kavalier and Clay are cousins. Kavalier is an escape artist who literally escaped Europe before the Nazis gained total control. Clay has lived in Brooklyn his entire (and very different) life. Together, they dive into the comic book industry during the Golden Age whilst trying to make the most of their turbulent lives and keep their friendship afloat.

Books in the bitpunk genre can be a bit of a coin toss; either cyberdelic bliss or a completely devoid of life outside the fanboy experience. The Impossible Fortress captures the same geeky relationship vibe of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, though a little heavy-handed on the teenage boys in the ’80s trope. It starts off with a simple heist: steal the latest Playboy from the local stationery store by distracting the store owner’s daughter. Seems like a solid plan until Billy learns that Mary is a gamer-geek and programmer like him. Now, who’s distracted? For more of the bitpunk genre, Cassie has your next TBR list.

Don’t fret if you missed this spectacular book in 2022. Despite its “plague” setting, it featured on many “Best SFF Books of 2022” — including our own. In 2030, an ancient virus devastates the world after its discovery during an archaeological dig. This book quickly becomes a reading experience, connecting various characters with their own independent stories, yet all part of the bigger picture. It’s the connectivity that really makes this such a great read; very much like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It’s about overcoming adversity to discover we are stronger together than apart. Please read with care: this book features the death of many children.