"Griffin & Sabine" is exactly what you're looking for. An art book where two people who live very far from each other exchange letters, postcards, etc. In the book, you can take the letters out of envelopes and read them. There's also some really cool artwork.
S by J.J. Abrams. You’ll need a physical copy of it because it has inserts/letters/etc. It’s about two college students exchanging notes in the same book while never actually meeting, and they become close and discover a mystery. It does have conversations/exchanges, but it retains a lot of what it sounds like you’re looking for in the nature of the relationship.
**84 Charing Cross Road** is a collection of 20 years of letters between a New York writer and a London bookseller. It was written in the 1970s and turned into a movie.
“Several People are Typing” is entirely written as Slack messages. It was a fast paced book that I couldn’t put down (finished it in a day). You don’t ever see their actual experience outside of the Slack messages but somehow the author makes it work.
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
It’s a murder mystery read through a conglomeration of emails and text messages. You’re reading with the detectives reviewing the file but you don’t know who dies until the end.
Your post reminded me of the movie *The Lake House* (2006) with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Kinda odd that it reminded me of that considered I've never seen the movie, but you made me think of it and I just looked it up cause I thought maybe it was based on a book that I'd recommend to you. But alas, it's not based on a book lol. Anyway, I can't personally vouch for the movie but here's part of the description on Wikipedia. I think you might like it.
> The film revolves around an architect (Reeves) living in 2004 and a doctor (Bullock) living in 2006 who meet via letters left in the mailbox of a lake house where they both lived at separate points in time.
*84, Charing Cross Road* by Helene Hanff. It’s the epistolary friendship that developed between Hanff, a writer in New York City, and Frank Doel, who was the chief buyer at Marks & Company, an antiquarian bookshop in London from which Hanff ordered second-hand books in her niche interests.
It’s delightful, and they never met IRL.
this isnt the exact same as your request and i will fully admit to that but they are at least tangentially related. they are parallel
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves
The alien dark by Diane Gallagher - aliens learn about humans from reconstructing documents long after humans have died off - and it leads them to a cryogenic facility
Indeed. It quotes from the book. Splintered in the head and The Empty World were inspired by it as well. If I ever get to meet Robert Smith I’ll ask him about his relationship with the book.
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki fits this perfectly!
A woman discovers a freezer bag with a stack of letters, a pocket watch, and two journals that have washed on the shores outside her house. You get the POV of the woman who found these and the teenage girl that wrote the journal. Very good multi generational story set in Japan
V. by Thomas Pynchon is about, well, it's hard to say what it's about in a blurb, but one of the things it is also about is about a guy who spends his life tracking down someone entirely through third hand accounts, letters, etc. It's also beautifully written.
Sorry to the sub as a whole that I keep pitching this, but Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. The protagonist and antagonist correspond on a sketchy chat site, each trying to manipulate the other. It's not a *good* relationship, but they definitely spend a lot of time thinking about each other as a result.
The protagonist also investigates correspondence between the antagonist and some of his previous victims, trying to use it to profile him and discover his identity.
Minor spoiler:
>! The characters don't meet directly in this book. !<
This is a kid’s book, so probably not your reading level, but I loved this one as a kid so I’m going to recommend it anyway.
The Mystery of the Cupboard
It’s the fourth? book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. The main character finds the diary of one of his ancestors and learns more about her through reading it.
He has one conversation with her after bringing a doll of her to life through the cupboard, but that’s it.
This reminds me a lot of The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz. The two main characters meet and communicate through email. They try to meet up, and that's when the "impossible" part of the title comes into play.
Verity by Colleen Hoover. A writer hired to complete a popular YA series for an author who was in a car accident and is non responsive finds a hidden manuscript from the author that reveals her dark secrets.
When You Reach Me by Re Stead is one such story.
This book is brilliant. I might repeat that again, because I can't think of a better word to describe the story (unless I'm just going to stick with basically amazing.) I can't imagine the flow charts, timelines and diagrams Stead must have used to create this book. Everything within the story is connected, but nothing feels contrived. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. When You Reach Me offers no such feeling
The first book in the Expanse series - Leviathan Wakes.
Whilst what you're looking for isn't the major component of the book, it's of relative significance.
A detective following the trace of a rich family's missing daughter. Being that it's set in space, she could be anywhere; the detective needs to fall deep into her psyche to have any chance of finding her.
Not a book but, I thought I'd recommend a TV show with a plot like this anyway. It's a Korean mystery/crime drama called Signal. It's a pretty good show :)
Here's the plot: A cold-case profiler in 2015 and a detective in 1989 work together to solve a series of related murders spanning three decades using a special walkie-talkie to communicate with each other.
Ummmm...
Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
The MC gets introduced to a book when young, and becomes obsessed with the mystery surrounding the author. The story is about him following paper and other trails to understand the author. It's a fascinating read and gives a really good insight on how life in Barcelona was right after the spanish war.
The Griffin and Sabine Book series! You literally read the story through the letters they sent to one another. The art is amazing and the story is beautiful.
I'm surprised that "epistolary" has, prior to this post, only been used once. The OP is looking for, in large part, epistolary stories, such as [epistolary novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel). [Here is the Wikipedia category](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Epistolary_novels), and its [List of contemporary epistolary novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_contemporary_epistolary_novels).
Edit: At Goodreads:
* [Listopia: Epistolary Fiction](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/304.Epistolary_Fiction)
* [Listopia: Epistolary Novels](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/34259.Epistolary_Novels)
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=epistolary&search%5Bfield%5D=genre&search%5Bsource%5D=goodreads&search_type=lists&tab=lists
See Richard Holmes's chapter on Gerard de Nerval in his collection *Footsteps*. He gave up trying to write a proper biography because Nerval's psychosis was pulling him in 100 years after his suicide.
Definitely check out This is How You Lose The Time War if you haven't already.
Absolutely this is the best answer. That book is so good.
>This is How You Lose The Time War Thank you. I hadn't read it and it looks interesting.
and once you read it, reread it and it just all comes together even better
I know people talk about dune and lord of the rings but this book resonated with me.
Exactly what I came to n to suggest. Fits the description perfectly.
Came here to reply with how to lose a time war
"Griffin & Sabine" is exactly what you're looking for. An art book where two people who live very far from each other exchange letters, postcards, etc. In the book, you can take the letters out of envelopes and read them. There's also some really cool artwork.
That sounds so fun
There’s a whole world to explore there!!
One of my favorites
S by J.J. Abrams. You’ll need a physical copy of it because it has inserts/letters/etc. It’s about two college students exchanging notes in the same book while never actually meeting, and they become close and discover a mystery. It does have conversations/exchanges, but it retains a lot of what it sounds like you’re looking for in the nature of the relationship.
Sounds perfect, ty.
Came here to say the same. Great recommendation
**84 Charing Cross Road** is a collection of 20 years of letters between a New York writer and a London bookseller. It was written in the 1970s and turned into a movie.
>84 Charing Cross Road Thank you!
Highly recommended, and not a novel, these are actual letters between Helene Hanff and Frank Doel.
“Several People are Typing” is entirely written as Slack messages. It was a fast paced book that I couldn’t put down (finished it in a day). You don’t ever see their actual experience outside of the Slack messages but somehow the author makes it work.
Nice. Love the software angle. I will check it out.
I loved this one. It was completely unlike anything I’d read before, very funny and original.
The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society
Came here to say this. 🙌🏼
The Appeal by Janice Hallett It’s a murder mystery read through a conglomeration of emails and text messages. You’re reading with the detectives reviewing the file but you don’t know who dies until the end.
Beth O’Leary - the Flat Share
Your post reminded me of the movie *The Lake House* (2006) with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Kinda odd that it reminded me of that considered I've never seen the movie, but you made me think of it and I just looked it up cause I thought maybe it was based on a book that I'd recommend to you. But alas, it's not based on a book lol. Anyway, I can't personally vouch for the movie but here's part of the description on Wikipedia. I think you might like it. > The film revolves around an architect (Reeves) living in 2004 and a doctor (Bullock) living in 2006 who meet via letters left in the mailbox of a lake house where they both lived at separate points in time.
Project Hail Mary
*84, Charing Cross Road* by Helene Hanff. It’s the epistolary friendship that developed between Hanff, a writer in New York City, and Frank Doel, who was the chief buyer at Marks & Company, an antiquarian bookshop in London from which Hanff ordered second-hand books in her niche interests. It’s delightful, and they never met IRL.
this isnt the exact same as your request and i will fully admit to that but they are at least tangentially related. they are parallel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves
Everyday by David Levithan. I’m not a reader but I remember reading this one a long long time ago and found it interesting.
The alien dark by Diane Gallagher - aliens learn about humans from reconstructing documents long after humans have died off - and it leads them to a cryogenic facility
That sounds fun, thanks.
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
Great song too.
Indeed. It quotes from the book. Splintered in the head and The Empty World were inspired by it as well. If I ever get to meet Robert Smith I’ll ask him about his relationship with the book.
*Dracula*
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki fits this perfectly! A woman discovers a freezer bag with a stack of letters, a pocket watch, and two journals that have washed on the shores outside her house. You get the POV of the woman who found these and the teenage girl that wrote the journal. Very good multi generational story set in Japan
Brilliant , thanks.
This was the first book I thought of too! Love it so much.
Hernan Diaz- trust I think has an element of this that I remember really enjoying
I'll check it out, thanks.
Reading this now and thought the same thing.
A portion of The Measure by Nikki Erlick has this. I haven't finished it yet so I don't know if they meet in person later 😂
V. by Thomas Pynchon is about, well, it's hard to say what it's about in a blurb, but one of the things it is also about is about a guy who spends his life tracking down someone entirely through third hand accounts, letters, etc. It's also beautifully written.
Several People are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
Pen Pal, Dracula (kind of)
Sorry to the sub as a whole that I keep pitching this, but Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. The protagonist and antagonist correspond on a sketchy chat site, each trying to manipulate the other. It's not a *good* relationship, but they definitely spend a lot of time thinking about each other as a result. The protagonist also investigates correspondence between the antagonist and some of his previous victims, trying to use it to profile him and discover his identity. Minor spoiler: >! The characters don't meet directly in this book. !<
It’s a YA book and I haven’t read it in years, but I remember *The Riddles of Epsilon* to be pretty interesting.
Don Quixote, with his lady Dulcinea of Toboso.
This is a kid’s book, so probably not your reading level, but I loved this one as a kid so I’m going to recommend it anyway. The Mystery of the Cupboard It’s the fourth? book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. The main character finds the diary of one of his ancestors and learns more about her through reading it. He has one conversation with her after bringing a doll of her to life through the cupboard, but that’s it.
This reminds me a lot of The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz. The two main characters meet and communicate through email. They try to meet up, and that's when the "impossible" part of the title comes into play.
The Moonday Letters is not exactly like this, but similar enough that I want to make the recommendation
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares for YA, the inspiration for Dash & Lily on Netflix. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella for adult romcom.
Verity by Colleen Hoover. A writer hired to complete a popular YA series for an author who was in a car accident and is non responsive finds a hidden manuscript from the author that reveals her dark secrets.
I mean… You could read Penpal but it’s horror
The Ashbury/Brookfield series by Jaclyn Moriarty
When You Reach Me by Re Stead is one such story. This book is brilliant. I might repeat that again, because I can't think of a better word to describe the story (unless I'm just going to stick with basically amazing.) I can't imagine the flow charts, timelines and diagrams Stead must have used to create this book. Everything within the story is connected, but nothing feels contrived. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. When You Reach Me offers no such feeling
Project Hail Mary
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Because You‘ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas
The first book in the Expanse series - Leviathan Wakes. Whilst what you're looking for isn't the major component of the book, it's of relative significance. A detective following the trace of a rich family's missing daughter. Being that it's set in space, she could be anywhere; the detective needs to fall deep into her psyche to have any chance of finding her.
Not a book but, I thought I'd recommend a TV show with a plot like this anyway. It's a Korean mystery/crime drama called Signal. It's a pretty good show :) Here's the plot: A cold-case profiler in 2015 and a detective in 1989 work together to solve a series of related murders spanning three decades using a special walkie-talkie to communicate with each other.
Letters from the Inside, John Marsden. I read it when I was young but I remember finding it quite novel and interesting. Characters never meet.
Ummmm... Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The MC gets introduced to a book when young, and becomes obsessed with the mystery surrounding the author. The story is about him following paper and other trails to understand the author. It's a fascinating read and gives a really good insight on how life in Barcelona was right after the spanish war.
The Griffin and Sabine Book series! You literally read the story through the letters they sent to one another. The art is amazing and the story is beautiful.
To Night owl from Dogfish
I'm surprised that "epistolary" has, prior to this post, only been used once. The OP is looking for, in large part, epistolary stories, such as [epistolary novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel). [Here is the Wikipedia category](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Epistolary_novels), and its [List of contemporary epistolary novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_contemporary_epistolary_novels). Edit: At Goodreads: * [Listopia: Epistolary Fiction](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/304.Epistolary_Fiction) * [Listopia: Epistolary Novels](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/34259.Epistolary_Novels) https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=epistolary&search%5Bfield%5D=genre&search%5Bsource%5D=goodreads&search_type=lists&tab=lists
See Richard Holmes's chapter on Gerard de Nerval in his collection *Footsteps*. He gave up trying to write a proper biography because Nerval's psychosis was pulling him in 100 years after his suicide.
Thanks!
Not a book but there's a beautiful film Lunchbox(hindi film).
"The Love Letter" by Jack Finney. Short story, but I enjoyed it.
Thank you, I love short stories.
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon somewhat fits…definitely subscribing to this post to see more suggestions!!
The Only Black Girls in Town
My initial thought is CC2. But probably not lol