Book cover of Stones for Ibarra

Book description

Winner of the National Book Award for First Work of Fiction

"A very good novel indeed, with echoes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Katherine Anne Porter, and even Graham Greene."--The New York Times

Richard and Sara Everton, just over and just under forty, have come to the small Mexican village of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Stones for Ibarra as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love this book’s restrained, atmospheric description of the experiences of a North American couple re-opening an abandoned copper mine in Mexico in the middle of the 20th century. It is Doerr’s first book, which she wrote in her mid-70s, based on experiences with her husband earlier in her life.

Her spare, evocative writing style gives a vivid sense of place and of human relationships between the foreign managers and the villagers, creating a sense of tenuous but real connection across wide divisions of language, race, class, education, and religion. 

From Elizabeth's list on about mining's effects on communities.

If you love Stones for Ibarra...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like Stones for Ibarra?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Stones for Ibarra.

Browse books like Stones for Ibarra

Book cover of Germinal
Book cover of How Green Was My Valley
Book cover of We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us: Dependency and Exploitation in Bolivian Tin Mines

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Stones for Ibarra, you might also like...

Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of Lane and the Inventor

Lane and the Inventor by Amy Q. Barker,

A grumpy-sunshine, slow-burn, sweet-and-steamy romance set in wild and beautiful small-town Colorado. Lane Gravers is a wanderer, adventurer, yoga instructor, and social butterfly when she meets reserved, quiet, pensive Logan Hickory, a loner inventor with a painful past.

Dive into this small-town, steamy romance between two opposites who find love…

5 book lists we think you will like!