Books like 'Everything Sad Is Untrue: (a true story)'
Readers who enjoyed Everything Sad Is Untrue: (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary 20th century military, war & conflict realistic family bullying coming-of-age poc-mc children religion
-
The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren, Jens Wawrczeck
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe Brothers Lionheart (Swedish: Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the autumn of 1973 and has been translated into 46 languages. Many of its themes are unusually dark and heavy for the children's book genre. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permeate the story...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction male-mc war 20th-century -
![The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros]()
The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsTwenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce—the New York house, the friends, and her pride. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face-to-face with Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of a million books where the cover is always people nearly kissing...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book contemporary -
![Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card]()
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 70 ratingsWelcome to Battleschool.Growing up is never easy. But try living on the mean streets as a child begging for food and fighting like a dog with ruthless gangs of starving kids who wouldn't hesitate to pound your skull into pulp for a scrap of apple. If Bean has learned anything on the streets, it's how to survive. And not with fists. He is way too small for that. But with brains... -
![A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving]()
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsIn the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy’s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn’t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary and terrifying...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction humor magical-realism realistic religion -
-
![Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes]()
Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper asking readers to send rocks in honor of loved ones to create something life-giving but the building halts when tragedy strikes. Decades later, Annie returns to the coastal Maine town where stone ruins spark her curiosity and her search for answers faces a battle against time...Categorized as:
family friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Heirs of Falcon Point by Traci Hunter Abramson, Sian Ann Bessey]()
Heirs of Falcon Point by Traci Hunter Abramson, Sian Ann Bessey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the early days of World War II, the Lang family lost everything. Eighty years later, it’s time to take it back.The Nazis have taken control of Austria, and wealthy widower Leopold Lang faces a difficult decision: join the ranks of the foreign power that has taken over his homeland or flee with his children to safety. Leopold makes his choice—but too late...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Collected Stories by Roald Dahl]()
Collected Stories by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe only hardcover edition of Roald Dahl’s stories for adults, the Collected Stories amply showcases his singular gifts as a fabulist and a born storyteller.Later known for his immortal children’s books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG, Dahl also had a genius for adult short fiction, which he wrote throughout his life... -
![Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger]()
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsNine Stories (1953) is a collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger published in April 1953. It includes two of his most famous short stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor". (Nine Stories is the U.S. title; the book is published in many other countries as For Esmé - with Love and Squalor, and Other Stories...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor realistic war 20th-century anthologies -
![Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card]()
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsAndrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life... -
![Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin]()
Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRussian novelist Victor Pelevin is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most brilliant young writers at work today. His comic inventiveness and mind-bending talent prompted Time magazine to proclaim him a "psychedelic Nabokov for the cyber-age...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor magical-realism religion spirituality war 20th-century adult -
![Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk]()
Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSet in the mythical Polish village of Primeval, a microcosm of the world populated with eccentric, archetypal characters and guarded by four archangels, this novel from Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk chronicles the lives of the inhabitants over the course of the feral 20th century in prose that is forceful, direct, and the stylistic cousin of the magic realism in Gabriel García Márquez's One...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction magical-realism myths religion spirituality war 20th-century -
![Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary]()
Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratings'Promise at Dawn' begins as the story of a mother's sacrifice. Alone and poor, she fights fiercely to give her son the very best. Gary chronicles his childhood with her in Russia, Poland, and on the French Riviera. And he recounts his adventurous life as a young man fighting for France in the Second World War... -
![The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono]()
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSimply written, but powerful and unforgettable, The Man Who Planted Trees is a parable for modern times. In the foothills of the French Alps the narrator meets a shepherd who has quietly taken on the task of planting one hundred acorns a day in an effort to reforest his desolate region. Not even two world wars can keep the shepherd from continuing his solitary work... -
![Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, William T. Vollmann]()
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, William T. Vollmann
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLouis-Ferdinand Celine's revulsion and anger at what he considered the idiocy and hypocrisy of society explodes from nearly every page of this novel. Filled with slang and obscenities and written in raw, colloquial language, Journey to the End of the Night is a literary symphony of violence, cruelty and obscene nihilism...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
-
![Collected Stories by William Faulkner]()
Collected Stories by William Faulkner
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“A Bear Hunt,” “A Rose for Emily,” “Two Soldiers,” “Victory,” “The Brooch,” “Beyond”—these are among the forty-two stories that make up this magisterial collection by the writer who stands at the pinnacle of modern American fiction...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook classics contemporary -
![Hourglass by Danilo Kiš]()
Hourglass by Danilo Kiš
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDanilo Kiš was one of the most artful and eloquent writers of postwar Europe. Of all his books, Hourglass, the account of the final months in one man's life before he is sent to a concentration camp, is considered to be his masterpiece...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics contemporary -
![The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsThe Sirens of Titan is an outrageous romp through space, time, and morality. The richest, most depraved man on Earth, Malachi Constant, is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Of course there’ s a catch to the invitation–and a prophetic vision about the purpose of human life that only Vonnegut has the courage to tell... -
![The Great Santini by Pat Conroy]()
The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsStep into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He's all Marine --- fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife -- beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man... -
![CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders]()
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn six stories and the novella, Bounty, Saunders introduces readers to people struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor magical-realism 20th-century 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
![Demian by Hermann Hesse]()
Demian by Hermann Hesse
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsEmil Sinclair is a young boy raised in a bourgeois home, amidst what is described as a Scheinwelt, a play on words that means "world of light" as well as "world of illusion". Emil's entire existence can be summarized as a struggle between two worlds: the show world of illusion (related to the Hindu concept of maya) and the real world, the world of spiritual truth...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship historical-fiction magical-realism religion spirituality war 20th-century -
![The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny]()
The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAcross the worlds of Shadow, Corwin, prince of blood royal, heir to the throne of Amber, gathers his forces for an assault that will yield up to him the crown that is rightfully his. But, a growing darkness of his own doing threatens his plans, an evil that stretches to the heart of the perfect kingdom itself where the demonic forces of Chaos mass to annihilate Amber and all who would rule there... -
![Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy]()
Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsColombian drug lords, bored with Uncle Sam's hectoring, assassinate the head of the FBI. The message is clear: Bug off!At what point do these druggies threaten national security? When can a nation act against its enemies? These are questions Jack Ryan must answer because someone has quietly stepped over the line... -
![The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati]()
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsOften likened to Kafka's The Castle, The Tartar Steppe is both a scathing critique of military life and a meditation on the human thirst for glory. It tells of young Giovanni Drogo, who is posted to a distant fort overlooking the vast Tartar steppe...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism war 20th-century absurdism action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera]()
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 75 ratingsIn The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism realistic war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
-
![Far from Home by Anne Bennett]()
Far from Home by Anne Bennett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA moving family drama of one young woman's fight to survive and to find a place to call home 1938: Sixteen-year-old Kate Monroe is living in Birmingham, far away from her family in Ireland. Her parents have always doted on her siblings, Sally and James, leaving no time for her. Kate harbours a dark secret, a deep longing for her cousin... -
![The Corsican Woman by Madge Swindells]()
The Corsican Woman by Madge Swindells
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSybilia turned as if sleepwalking and, trance-like, walked down the stone steps to the living room. She shuddered as she took the rifle from the peg on the wall, but after only a moment's hesitation, she loaded it and went outside. Sybilia Rocca is beautiful, gentle and intelligent... -
![Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsTold with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it ...Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he's the inventor of 'ice-nine', a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor magical-realism religion spirituality war 20th-century absurdism -
![Whisper on the Wind by Elizabeth Elgin]()
Whisper on the Wind by Elizabeth Elgin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWorld War Two. For men, an era of terrible devastation, broken lives and perhaps a glimpse of heroism. But for many women, a time of opportunity, a new-found freedom, a challenge in a changing world... -
![Margot & Me by Juno Dawson]()
Margot & Me by Juno Dawson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSometimes love has to cross all kinds of barriers . . .Fliss is on the way to visit her grandmother in Wales - the grandmother who she doesn't get on with - with her mother who is recuperating from chemotherapy...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war coming-of-age friendship family europe british-isles united-kingdom -
![Always by Morris Gleitzman]()
Always by Morris Gleitzman
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAlways stay hopeful.That's my motto.You're probably thinking, He's a dreamer, that Wassim. What's he got to be hopeful about? He's ten years old and look at his life.Thanks, but it's not so bad.I've got a lot to be hopeful about.Specially now there's a person who can help me. A person called Felix Salinger... -
![Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Курт Воннегут]()
Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Курт Воннегут
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsWelcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, these superb stories share Vonnegut’s audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor magical-realism war 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook -
![The Assignment by Liza M. Wiemer]()
The Assignment by Liza M. Wiemer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the vein of the classic The Wave and inspired by a real-life incident, this riveting novel explores discrimination and antisemitism and reveals their dangerous impact.SENIOR YEAR...Categorized as:
realistic historical-fiction war friendship family coming-of-age young-adult fiction -
![The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy]()
The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsHow do you save the United States President from himself? What if the President is incompetent to deal with the greatest crisis of all? Jack Ryan never thought he would have to ask those questions as, the world order changing, he prepares the ground for the Middle Eastern peace plan that, at last, might be the one to work.But too many groups have invested too much blood...Categorized as:
historical-fiction realistic war 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history audiobook -
![Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy, David Dukes]()
Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy, David Dukes
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsOver the course of nine novels, Tom Clancy’s “genius for big, compelling plots” and his “natural narrative gift” (The New York Times Magazine) have mesmerized hundreds of millions of readers and established him as one of the preeminent storytellers of our time. Rainbow Six, however, goes beyond anything he has done before...Categorized as:
historical-fiction male-mc realistic war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
-
![The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey]()
The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEd Abbey called The Monkey Wrench Gang, his 1975 novel, a "comic extravaganza." Some readers have remarked that the book is more a comic book than a real novel, and it's true that reading this incendiary call to protect the American wilderness requires more than a little of the old willing suspension of disbelief...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
![The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay]()
The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIn the second novel in Guy Gavriel Kay's critically acclaimed Fionavar Tapestry, five men and women from our world must play their parts in a colossal war, as the first of all worlds confronts an ancient evil...After a thousand years of imprisonment the Unraveller has broken free and frozen Fionavar in the ice of eternal winter...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship historical-fiction male-mc myths war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Амадока by Sofia Andrukhovych, Софія Андрухович]()
Амадока by Sofia Andrukhovych, Софія Андрухович
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsПонівечений до невпізнаваности в одній із гарячих точок на Сході України, герой роману «Амадока» тільки дивом залишився живим. Це сумнівна втіха, оскільки важкі травми призвели до повної втрати пам’яти: чоловік не пам’ятає ні свого імени, ні звідки походить, не пригадує жодної близької людини, жодного фрагмента свого попереднього життя... -
![Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card]()
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 75 ratingsNow available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is reviled by history as the Xenocide--the destroyer of the alien Buggers. Now, Ender tells the true story of the war and seeks to stop history from repeating itself. ..Categorized as:
coming-of-age religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure aliens audiobook -
![Jade City by Fonda Lee]()
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsJADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction magical-realism poc-mc war action-adventure asian-mc audiobook -
![The Dead of Night by John Marsden]()
The Dead of Night by John Marsden
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsA few months after the first fighter jets landed in their own backyard, Ellie and her five terrified but defiant friends struggle to survive amid a baffling conflict. Their families are unreachable; the mountains are now their home. When two of them fall behind enemy lines, Ellie knows what must happen next: a rescue mission...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship historical-fiction realistic teens war 20th-century action-adventure -
![If You Were the Only Girl by Anne Bennett]()
If You Were the Only Girl by Anne Bennett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA moving family drama of one young woman’s fight to survive, to find her long-lost relatives and to find a place to call home Bridgette has been hurt many times in her life. Her early years were blighted by her spoilt brother; her marriage ruined by World War Two. Now her mother is dying. And then comes a deathbed revelation – somewhere Bridgette has another family and a father... -
![Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson]()
Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwenty-five year old Frances Field wanted desperately to get away from her guardians' dull London townhouse. Unforeseen circumstances finally gave her the chance to escape. She decided for the first time in her life to go off on her own, to a quiet fishing village in Scotland... -
![Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr]()
Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9781439182840.In the luminous and beautiful title story, winner of a 2010 National Magazine Award, a young boy in South Africa comes to possess an old woman's secret, a piece of the past with the power to redeem a life... -
![Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman]()
Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNavajo Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn investigate murders that lead them into spine-tingling and mystical world of Navajo witchcraft. Three unsolved homicides and an attempt on Chee's life have left the Navajo Tribal Police baffled...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths poc-mc religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
-
![Children of God by Mary Doria Russell]()
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsMary Doria Russell's debut novel, The Sparrow, took us on a journey to a distant planet and into the center of the human soul. A critically acclaimed bestseller, The Sparrow was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly's Ten Best Books of the Year, a finalist for the Book-of-the-Month Club's First Fiction Prize and the winner of the James M. Tiptree Memorial Award...Categorized as:
historical-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure adult aliens -
![Swan Song by John Galsworthy]()
Swan Song by John Galsworthy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1928. English novelist, playwright and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932, Galsworthy became known for his portrayal of the British upper middle class and for his social satire. To readers of Galsworthy there is a special significance in this novel for it marks the passing of Soames Forsyte and brings the annals of the Forsyte family to an end... -
![Mattimeo by Brian Jacques]()
Mattimeo by Brian Jacques
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe third addition to the beloved Redwall series takes place during the summer of the Golden Plain. Preparation for a great feast are underway at Redwall Abbey, and the young mouse Mattimeo is contributing his share of the labors... -
![The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks]()
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 88 ratingsA man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction male-mc realistic war 20th-century audiobook -
![Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.]()
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsBroad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn... -
![The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs]()
The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs"...sweet, crisp and juicy."--Elin Hilderbrand"A powerful story of love, loss, hope and redemption."-- Kirkus , Starred ReviewTess Delaney makes a living restoring stolen treasures to their owners. People like Annelise Winther, who has just been reunited with her mother's long gone necklace, worth a sum that could change her life...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
