Books like 'Simple Recipes'
Readers who enjoyed Simple Recipes by Madeleine Thien also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary literary-fiction family coming-of-age journey university
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Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe heart-wrenching bestselling Crank trilogy shows that addiction is never just one person’s problem. Crank Kristina is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then she meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul—her life. Glass Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal... -
![Pretty Beach Posies by Polly Babbington]()
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![Hard Land by Benedict Wells]()
Hard Land by Benedict Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMissouri, 1985: Um vor den Problemen zu Hause zu fliehen, nimmt der fünfzehnjährige Sam einen Ferienjob in einem alten Kino an. Und einen magischen Sommer lang ist alles auf den Kopf gestellt. Er findet Freunde, verliebt sich und entdeckt die Geheimnisse seiner Heimatstadt. Zum ersten Mal ist er kein unscheinbarer Außenseiter mehr. Bis etwas passiert, das ihn zwingt, erwachsen zu werden... -
![All My Mothers by Joanna Glen]()
All My Mothers by Joanna Glen
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of the Costa shortlisted debut, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, comes the story of one girl’s journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers – and family – can be discovered in the most unexpected of places…London, 1980s. Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martínez-Green is deeply unhappy...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age family fiction historical-fiction contemporary audiobook parenthood -
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![A Part of Me and You: An empowering and incredibly moving novel that will make you laugh and cry by Emma Heatherington]()
A Part of Me and You: An empowering and incredibly moving novel that will make you laugh and cry by Emma Heatherington
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYou always think you have more time… Juliette always thought she’d have more time. But as her fortieth birthday approaches she is dealt the deadliest of blows – she has just weeks to live. As the terrible news sinks in, Juliette’s only concern is for her fifteen-year-old daughter, Rosie... -
![Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo]()
Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTodo empieza con un algunas noches, en los diez minutos suspendidos antes de que Abuela regrese del bingo, dos hermanas salen a escondidas por la puerta de atrás hasta El Ahorcado —un volcán redondo como una panza bocarriba—, cuentan hasta tres y corren de vuelta sin mirar atrás...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction magical-realism contemporary female-author book -
![Rose by Li-Young Lee, Gerald Stern]()
Rose by Li-Young Lee, Gerald Stern
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this outstanding first book of poems, Lee is unafraid to show emotion, especially when writing about his father or his wife. "But there is wisdom/ in the hour in which a boy/ sits in his room listening," says the first poem, and Lee's silent willingness to step outside himself imbues Rose with a rare sensitivity... -
![Cánh Đồng Bất Tận by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư]()
Cánh Đồng Bất Tận by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCánh đồng bất tận bao gồm những truyện hay và mới nhất của nhà văn Nguyễn Ngọc Tư. Đây là tác phẩm đang gây xôn xao trong đời sống văn học, bởi ở đó người ta tìm thấy sự dữ dội, khốc liệt của đời sống thôn dã qua cái nhìn của một cô gái. Bi kịch về nỗi mất mát, sự cô đơn được đẩy lên đến tận cùng, khiến người đọc có lúc cảm thấy nhói tim.. -
![অপেক্ষা by Humayun Ahmed]()
অপেক্ষা by Humayun Ahmed
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsমানুষের জীবন কি চক্রের মত? চক্রের কোন শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। মানব জীবনও কি তাই? রহস্যময় চক্রের ভেতর এই জীবন ঘুরপাক খেতে থাকে? শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। চক্র ঘুরছে।এই চক্রের ভেতরে ঘুরপাক খেতে খেতে অপেক্ষা করে কেউ কেউ। কিংবা সকলেই কিসের... -
![A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi, Hildegarde Serle]()
A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi, Hildegarde Serle
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLaughter, tears, the transformative power of love, unexpected revelations, and striking natural these are the ingredients that combine to make best-selling author Virginie Grimaldi’s English debut the feel-good read of 2024. Grimaldi is among France’s top ten contemporary authors and her uplifting, unputdownable literary novels have quickly garnered her millions of adoring fans...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age romance fiction contemporary audiobook season-summer -
![Dear Jon by Lori L. Otto]()
Dear Jon by Lori L. Otto
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA summer with his family in Utah is all Jon Scott needs to pull himself together. It's time to focus on his mom's sobriety and the continuing education of his two younger brothers, Will and Max. For once, things seem to be on track with that part of his life. For the first time, he sees real hope for his family... -
![All The Colours In Between by Eva Jordan]()
All The Colours In Between by Eva Jordan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEva Jordan's much-anticipated follow up to the bestselling 183 Times a Year It's not a life, it's an adventure! Lizzie is fast approaching 50. Her once angst ridden teenage daughters, now grown and in their twenties, have flown the nest, Cassie to London and Maisy to Australia... -
![Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano]()
Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings¿Quién es Belaundia Fu? Es la mejor amiga de Marta a los siete años: la amiga invisible que, en esos momentos en que las cosas no salen como había planeado y ni siquiera la abuela es capaz de consolarla, se sienta con ella y espera hasta que se le pase... -
![Cemetery Nights by Stephen Dobyns]()
Cemetery Nights by Stephen Dobyns
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the fabulous storytelling of our dreams to the mute passions of domestic life, Stephen Dobyns explores a full range of human experience in these narrative poems... -
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![A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley]()
A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAward-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, whose bestselling fiction "tackles some of life’s toughest situations" ( The Florida Times-Union ), unravels the secrets in a mother’s past that turn her daughter’s life upside down—by revealing the family she never knew existed... -
![Baby Talk by Judith S. Keim]()
Baby Talk by Judith S. Keim
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsReaders of the Hartwell Women Series asked for more. I listened. Baby Talk is Book 4. When Marissa Crawford and her husband Brad decide to start a family, Marissa has serious doubts about her ability to be a good mother--she was raised by one of the worst... -
![Troubled Waters by Rosie Harris]()
Troubled Waters by Rosie Harris
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe looked after them. But who would look after her? When fourteen-year-old Sara Jenkins rescues her baby sister, Myfanwy, from the fire which kills their mother, little does she realise the burden of responsibility she is taking on. Her father, Ifor, is perceived as strict and moral by everyone in the village... -
![Straight Talk by Judith Keim]()
Straight Talk by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStraight Talk - Book Three in the Hartwell Women Trilogy Samantha Hartwell’s life changes completely when she’s attacked by a client’s boyfriend. She leaves Boston and Straight Talk, her consulting business, and escapes to California wine country to heal and to help her sister and brother-in-law with their vineyard’s growth... -
![From Afar by Frank Scozzari]()
From Afar by Frank Scozzari
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor centuries, poets have argued that unrequited love is love in its strongest form. From Afar is a timeless tale of Morgan Stanfield’s search for love in the far northern city of Saint Petersburg, Russia...Categorized as:
coming-of-age journey literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction -
![Intermezzo by Sally Rooney]()
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family, from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney. Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable... -
![The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue]()
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere would I start, and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?Rachel Murray is twenty-one years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne... -
![Jewelweed by David Rhodes]()
Jewelweed by David Rhodes
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith Jewelweed this beloved author returns to the same out-of-the-way community as Driftless and introduces a cast of characters who must overcome the burdens left by the past. After serving time for a dubious conviction, Blake Bookchester is paroled... -
![Cómplices by Taibo]()
Cómplices by Taibo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJulián ha luchado contra el aburrimiento de todas las maneras posibles. Desde que le diagnosticaron hepatitis, ha recreado en su cabeza conversaciones imaginarias entre ostras que no tienen nada que hacer, ha buscado formas fantasiosas en las manchas de la pared, ha lanzado mocos al aire. Pero es feliz porque no tiene que ir a la escuela... -
![Missing Beats by K.L. Shandwick]()
Missing Beats by K.L. Shandwick
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTo Jo, rock stars = Fame. Money. Music. Sex. A lifestyle she literally has no respect for. Josie Carmichael's no rock star. She's not even famous and she doesn't particularly like musicians, but when a boy from her childhood reconnects unexpectedly, her life is put on hold...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction adult book contemporary fiction friends-to-lovers -
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![McKellan's Run by Nicole Hurley-Moore]()
McKellan's Run by Nicole Hurley-Moore
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYears ago, Violet Beckett made the mistake of falling for the wrong McKellan brother and both she and her younger sister, Lily, paid the price. Now eight years later, fate has brought Violet and her daughter, Holly, back to the house Violet grew up in. As soon as Violet runs into James 'Mac' McKellan, she wonders if she should run all the way back to the city... -
![Last Things by Betta Ferrendelli]()
Last Things by Betta Ferrendelli
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBridgette Connor is a woman on the edge. Her career is in tatters, her relationship is doomed, and after an ill-fated pregnancy and subsequent abortion, she does the one thing she’s always done best. She runs. Her car careens off the road leaving her battered, bruised and beaten. It is then that she meets the woman who will change her life. Alexis Parker is a woman in control...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction contemporary romantic-love dark female-mc -
![Perception of Life by Shandi Boyes]()
Perception of Life by Shandi Boyes
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNoah Taylor is on the cusp of stardom with his band 'Rise Up'. Noah's soul has been shattered beyond repair after a series of devastating family events. The last thing that Noah wants is a committed relationship. But Noah soon learns that life doesn't always work out the way you plan. Sometimes life can take you on a small detour... -
![The Orchard by Peter Heller]()
The Orchard by Peter Heller
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Dog Stars and The River, the story of a young girl coming of age among the streams and mountains of southern Vermont—an unforgettable tale of love, friendship, loss, and the enduring power of nature.Hayley and her seven-year-old daughter, Frith, live in a rustic cabin with no electricity in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains... -
![Love & Ruin by J.A. Owenby]()
Love & Ruin by J.A. Owenby
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe shadows have always been my safe place. I prefer to hide, stay under the radar.In a rare burst of bravery,I decide to go to college far away.But people are cruel everywhere, and even though I’m far from home, I still want to hide.Until Hendrix.He sees me. Defends me.At first he seems too good to be true, but he wins my trust, makes me feel safe in his presence...Categorized as:
university coming-of-age literary-fiction family romance contemporary new-adult fiction -
![Now I'll Tell You Everything by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor]()
Now I'll Tell You Everything by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's Alice—for the rest of her life! Yes, the very last Alice book, and it reveals every last bit you'd want to know about Alice, including whether she spends the rest of her life with Patrick! "This is the book where Alice, every girl’s girl, turns into every lady’s lady" (VOYA).Alice McKinley is going to college! And everything, from her room to her classes to her friends, is about to change... -
![The Love We Left Behind by Katherine Slee]()
The Love We Left Behind by Katherine Slee
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA heartbreaking, heartwarming story of two best friends—and the choices that could tear them apart.London, 2012. With her adoring fiancé, financial independence and a close-knit group of friends, Erika should have life all figured out—but she can’t shake the feeling that there’s something missing... -
![The Butterfly Garden by Mary Campisi]()
The Butterfly Garden by Mary Campisi
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s all about that second chance… The Butterfly Garden is Book Six of That Second Chance Series. (These are stand-alone stories tied together by a common theme— belief in the beauty of that second chance.) Sometimes love happens when you least expect it… Jenny Romano has never been a white-picket-fence, happily-ever-after girl...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction coming-of-age romance contemporary womens-fiction fiction small-town -
![Eunoia: The Set (CD and Book): The Set (CD and Book) by Christian Bök]()
Eunoia: The Set (CD and Book): The Set (CD and Book) by Christian Bök
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe word `eunoia', which literally means `beautiful thinking', is the shortest word in English that contains all five vowels. Eunoia is a five-chapter book in which each chapter is a univocal lipogram (the first chapter has A as its only vowel, the second chapter only E, etc.)... -
![Speechless by Tom Lanoye, Paul Vincent]()
Speechless by Tom Lanoye, Paul Vincent
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTom Lanoye's mother, an amateur actress, suffered a stroke and lost her ability to speak. With her voice, once so dear to her, gone, she deteriorated, slowly and inevitably. New attacks made her entirely dependent on help.As a grateful and moving homage he reconstructs her life in an abundance of language that used to be hers... -
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![The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside]()
The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCesare is a seventy-seven-year-old widower and cynical troublemaker, a man who has always struggled to care for others and has given up trying. Aside from an intermittent fling with a nurse called Rossana, he avoids contact with his neighbours and even his own children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into the neighbouring flat with her strange and sinister husband... -
![Lessons by Ian McEwan]()
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Two thousand miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction historical-fiction audiobook contemporary book -
![Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel]()
Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart coming-of-age tale, part family saga, an extraordinary debut novel set between Berlin, Chicago, and Jerusalem “about being Jewish and German, and all the awkwardness that entails” (The Guardian).It’s the hottest of summers in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents... -
![A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy]()
A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layer upon layer of secrets, until one morning years later when she is forced to reckon with her past."This debut is a beautiful, if sometimes harrowing, exploration of one woman’s journey. . . to a life built by her own grit and determination." -Library Journal, Starred Review...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age journey family fiction contemporary historical-fiction audiobook -
![The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri]()
The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMeet the Mikkola sisters: Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia. Their mother is a Tunisian carpet seller, their father a mysterious Swede who left them when they were young. Ina is tall, serious, a compulsive organizer. Evelyn is dreamy, magnetic, a smooth talker. Anastasia is moody, chaotic, a shape-shifting presence, quick to anger... -
![Handling Sin by Michael Malone]()
Handling Sin by Michael Malone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn the Ides of March, our hero, Raleigh Whittier Hayes (forgetful husband, baffled father, prosperous insurance agent and leading citizen of Thermopylae, North Carolina), learns that his father has discharged himself from the hospital, taken all his money out of the bank and, with a young black female mental patient, vanished in a yellow Cadillac convertible... -
![Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah]()
Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a powerful story of exile, migration, and betrayal.Salim has always known that his father does not want him. Living with his parents and his adored Uncle Amir in a house full of secrets, he is a bookish child, a dreamer haunted by night terrors. It is the 1970s and Zanzibar is changing...Categorized as:
literary-fiction journey coming-of-age family fiction historical-fiction contemporary 21st-century -
![Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker]()
Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWinner of the Waverton Good Read Award 2017Shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017Shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2017Imagine if your whole life changed in the blink of an eye . . . Captain Tom Barnes is leading British troops into a war zone when he is gravely injured by an exploding IED...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction university adult book contemporary fiction historical-fiction -
![The Life List by Chrissy Anderson]()
The Life List by Chrissy Anderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen she was just sixteen, Chrissy Anderson made a life list… …The outcome is a dream husband, a career to envy, and the kind of best friends every girl wants. Then out of nowhere…an affair. What would you do if you realized the life you created wasn’t right for you? You think you know the answer? Think again... -
![Falling Stars: A Thompson Sisters Novella by Charles Sheehan-Miles]()
Falling Stars: A Thompson Sisters Novella by Charles Sheehan-Miles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCrank Wilson and Julia Thompson love each other madly. But after Crank’s huge mistake during the summer, on the road with Crank’s rock band Morbid Obesity, they aren’t getting along. Sean Wilson and Carrie Thompson are the seventeen year old younger siblings of Julia and Crank. Carrie is on her way to New York to start college at Columbia University and Sean is on his way home to Boston... -
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![Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha]()
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction contemporary realistic audiobook psychological -
![Blodsbunden by Augustin Erba]()
Blodsbunden by Augustin Erba
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMitt i en nedgången förort bor en blåblodig prinsessa med sin man, deras tre barn och en gigantisk schäfer. Innanför väggarna i höghuslägenheten försöker familjen hålla en egen värld vid liv, och där vill mamman helst stanna. Den äldste sonen Amadeus sätts i privatskola i stan "för att inte bli knarkare som grannbarnen", som hans mamma säger... -
![The Promise: A Passionate Romance by M.V. Kasi]()
The Promise: A Passionate Romance by M.V. Kasi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo billionaire brothers. Two village belles. A promise. A charade. And falling in love... Vikram and Vishal are the heirs to the well-known Saaho Group fortune. London bred and educated, the handsome brothers are accustomed to a jet-setting lifestyle while they win cutthroat business deals, date beautiful women and spend time with their doting family... -
![Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell]()
Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPaul Russell's delicately layered, richly textured novels have won him widespread acclaim as one of the finest contemporary American novelists... -
![Rock My Heart by Jean Haus]()
Rock My Heart by Jean Haus
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis story can be read as a standalone.Raised in poverty and violence, Gabe Reed wears a could-care-less attitude like a shield. He expects life to suck. It always has, and he is usually the one to screw it up even more. Drumming for the college band Luminescent Juliet started as a way to release the built up rage inside of him... -
![The Marriage Fix by Sandra Edwards]()
The Marriage Fix by Sandra Edwards
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsContemporary Romance Lecie de Laurent is dying to cut the apron strings and strike out on her own. With the house and the money she’s inherited from Edouard Renault, she finally has her chance without financial repercussions from Papa. California is an intoxicating place for the sheltered, high society girl from France, and she’s not ready to leave when her father insists she return home...
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