Books like 'Summer Fun'
Readers who enjoyed Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological literary-fiction lgbtq trans-mc historical-fiction realistic season-summer wlw romantic-love
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This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here and here.This is how a family keeps a secret…and how that secret ends up keeping them.This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated.This is how children change…and then change the world.This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches...Categorized as:
humor lgbtq literary-fiction realistic season-summer trans-mc 21st-century audiobook -
The Highly Unreliable Account of the History of a Madhouse by Ayfer Tunç
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe novel opens in a provincial mental health hospital on the morning of the 14th February 2007 and comes to a cataclysmic end several hours later Lacklustre guest speaker (‘Love: Self-sacrifice? Or Self-preservation?’) Ülkü Birinci fails to impress the Medical Director, whose plans to write the history of the hospital are destined to remain stillborn... -
Erasure by Percival Everett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Thelonious (Monk) Ellison has never allowed race to define his identity. But as both a writer and an African American, he is offended and angered by the success of We's Lives in Da Ghetto, the exploitative debut novel of a young, middle-class black woman who once visited "some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days... -
Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsMurder most fowl? In this sardonic and campy YA thriller, an anxious, introverted nonbinary teen birder somehow finds themself solving a murder mystery with their neighbor/fellow anime lover, all while falling for a cute girl from their birding group . . . and trying not to get murdered... -
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The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOh, would that all bullying problems could be solved so easily! Mean Jean is the reigning Recess Queen, pushing and smooshing, hammering and slammering the other kids whenever they cross her. And then one day a puny new girl shows up on the playground and catches Mean Jean completely off-guard... -
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 35 ratings"Twelve times a week," answered Uta Hagen when asked how often she'd like to play Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? In the same way, audiences and critics alike could not get enough of Edward Albee's masterful play. A dark comedy, it portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor lgbtq literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis novel in verse about a group of California yuppies was one of the most highly praised books of 1986 and a bestseller on both coasts... -
Shtum by Jem Lester
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPowerful, darkly funny and heart-breaking, Shtum is a story about fathers and sons, autism, and dysfunctional relationships.Ben Jewell has hit breaking point. His ten-year-old son Jonah has severe autism and Ben and his wife, Emma, are struggling to cope... -
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratings"When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many by its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, determined to persist in the routines of his daily life...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction realistic season-summer 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Art Lover by Carole Maso
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat is the power of art in the face of death? In The Art Lover Carole Maso has created an elegant and moving narrative about a woman experiencing (and reliving) the most painful transitions of her life... -
One Summer Night at the Ritz by Jenny Oliver
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGorgeously glamorous and unforgettably romantic, One Summer Night at the Ritz is the fairy-tale perfect forth story in Jenny Oliver’s ‘Cherry Pie Island’ series...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction season-summer adult anthologies contemporary family female-mc -
From Rome with Love: Escape the January blues with the perfect feel-good romance! by Jules Wake
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings‘Charming…romance, wit and a fabulous “all is lost” moment’ Sue Moorcroft, bestselling author of The Christmas PromiseIf you can’t stand the heat…Rome is the city of love and seduction, right? Not if you find yourself staying in a beautiful apartment with your childhood-friend-turned-arch-enemy, Will Ryan…no matter how hot he is!Romance is the last thing on Lisa’s mind... -
The Force of Such Beauty: A Novel by Barbara Bourland
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter a failed escape attempt, the princess of a tiny kingdom begins to reevaluate her life. Caroline, a former marathon runner who dropped out of school at fourteen to pursue an Olympic medal, was the perfect candidate for a tiara: shapely, disciplined, accustomed to public attention, and utterly uneducated. When she meets Finn, the handsome prince of a small European kingdom, her fate is sealed...Categorized as:
literary-fiction historical-fiction realistic season-summer romance fiction contemporary fantasy -
On the Inside by Kim Cano
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsShe didn't know what she stood to lose - until hope was all she had left.Kristen was living the dream - a loving husband, adorable children, a successful career. Why hadn't it been enough? She's had a lot of time to ponder the answer - behind bars.It was a little fudging of the numbers, just once to cover some unpaid bills...Categorized as:
literary-fiction wlw lgbtq romantic-love fiction audiobook contemporary womens-fiction -
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Invisible Love by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEric-Emmanuel Schmitt is the author of three luminous collections of short stories published by Europa Editions, including the bestselling Most Beautiful Book in the World, and one novel, Three Women in a Mirror... -
Five Steps to Happy by Ella Dove
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'An up-lit treasure' Red magazine Life can change in a heartbeat... When struggling actress Heidi has a life-changing accident aged 32, her world falls apart. Stuck in hospital and unable to walk, her only companion is Maud, the elderly lady in the bed next to hers...Categorized as:
literary-fiction historical-fiction humor fiction womens-fiction drama contemporary psychological -
Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA pop-saturated epic novel about the second man on the moon, and the quiet thirty-year-old gardener who idolizes him. A story of unconventional psychiatry, the Faroe Islands, amateur boat building, and the journey across the space that divides us from other people: a journey as remote and dangerous as the trip to the moon itself... -
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsFrom the creator and executive producer of the beloved and universally acclaimed television series BoJack Horseman, a fabulously off-beat collection of short stories about love--the best and worst thing in the universeWritten with all the scathing dark humor that is a hallmark of BoJack Horseman, Raphael Bob-Waksberg's stories will make readers laugh, weep, and shiver in uncomfortably delicious... -
Not Fade Away by Jim Dodge
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGeorge Gastin is a Bay Area tow-truck operator who wrecks cars as part of an insurance scam. One of the cars he is hired to demolish is a snow-white Cadillac that was supposed to be a present for the Big Bopper, who died in the Iowa plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Gastin has a change of heart and takes off in the car, heading for Texas where the Bopper is buried...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction realistic action-adventure adult book contemporary -
Broken Hearts & Zombie Parts by William Hussey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Big Gay Rom-Zom-Com with HeartJesse Spark has a broken heart and in a few short weeks he'll require major surgery to repair it - which means he only has a month to accomplish two almost-impossible tasks.1) Shoot his epic zombie movie on a shoestring budget if he has any hope of getting into film school... -
Farewell to the Sea: A Novel of Cuba by Reinaldo Arenas
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this brilliant, apocalyptic vision of Castro's Cuba, we meet a young couple who leave the dreariness of Havana and spend six days at a small seaside retreat, where they hope to recapture the desire and carefree spirit that once united them... -
War Against the Animals by Paul Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCameron Barnes, formerly of New York City, lives in a small town in upstate New York. After having nearly succumbed to AIDS, he's recently regained a measure of his health but his long-term lover has moved away, and Cameron faces the daunting prospect of learning how to live with the idea of a future in mind again... -
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA brilliantly original and funny novel about a sex therapist’s transcriptionist who falls in love with a client while listening to her sessions. When they accidentally meet in real life, an explosive affair ensues.Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. She spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om... -
Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes by Gerd Brantenberg
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWelcome to the land of Egalia, where gender roles are topsy-turvy as "wim" wield the power and "menwim" light the home fires... -
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You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn his bestselling and lavishly praised first book of stories, Adam Haslett explores lives that appear shuttered by loss and discovers entire worlds hidden inside them. The impact is at once harrowing and thrilling.An elderly inventor, burning with manic creativity, tries to reconcile with his estranged gay son... -
A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this celebrated novel, Margaret Laurence writes with grace, power, and deep compassion about Rachel Cameron, a woman struggling to come to terms with love, with death, with herself and her world.Trapped in a milieu of deceit and pettiness – her own and that of others – Rachel longs for love, and contact with another human being who shares her rebellious spirit...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult book classics contemporary -
Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInside the halls of ILLC, an institution for juveniles with disabilities, we discover a place that is deeply different from and yet remarkably the same as the world outside. Nussbaum crafts a multifaceted portrait of a way of life hidden from most of us. In this isolated place on Chicago's South Side, friendships are forged, trust is built, and love affairs begin... -
Controle by Natalia Borges Polesso
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNatalia Borges Polesso apresenta, em Controle, uma narrativa impactante sobre relações homoafetivas entre mulheres, o poder do desafio e, acima de tudo, as escolhas que precisam ser feitas para que as pessoas se tornem quem elas querem ser.A protagonista, Nanda, é epilética. Cercada de cuidado pelos pais, ela evita ao máximo o contato humano — exceto pela amiga, Joana... -
Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn NPR Best Book of 2015Love and sacrifice intertwine in this brilliant debut of rare beauty about a girl dealing with her mother’s schizophrenia and her own mental illness.Fig’s world lies somewhere between reality and fantasy.But as she watches Mama slowly come undone, it becomes hard to tell what is real and what is not, what is fun and what is frightening...Categorized as:
realistic literary-fiction historical-fiction north-america usa arkansas kansas young-adult -
The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsOne school. Twenty voices.Endless possibilities.There's the girl who is in love with Holden Caulfield. The boy who wants to be strong who falls for the girl who's convinced she needs to be weak. The girl who writes love songs for a girl she can't have. The two boys teetering on the brink of their first anniversary. And everyone in between...Categorized as:
lgbtq realistic season-summer wlw 21st-century anthologies coming-of-age contemporary -
Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWinner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award The hero of John Updike’s Rabbit, Run, ten years after the events of Rabbit Redux, has come to enjoy considerable prosperity as the chief sales representative of Springer Motors, a Toyota agency in Brewer, Pennsylvania... -
The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories by Carson McCullers
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers’s best stories, including her beloved novella “The Ballad of the Sad Café.” A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town’s gathering place...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor lgbtq literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook -
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWith Empire Falls Richard Russo cements his reputation as one of America's most compelling and compassionate storytellers. Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction realistic 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
Punk Like Me by J.D. Glass
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA coming of age story, a love story…a brave, brilliant story of strength and seldiscovery. Twenty-one year old Nina writes lyrics and plays guitar in the rock band, Adam’s Rib, and she doesn’t always play by the rules. And, oh yeah—she has a way with the girls. Even her brother Nicky’s girlfriends think she’s hot... -
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Me, Myself and Them by Dan Mooney
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA heart-wrenching, funny and fresh debut about human connection and the power of friendshipStruggling to cope with a tragic loss, Denis Murphy has, for the past seven years, learned to live differently. His friends are used to his strict routines, like ironing his socks and lighting his fireplace every Sunday (even in the summer)...Categorized as:
realistic literary-fiction humor fiction mental-illness contemporary audiobook social-commentary -
The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOver the last decade, Yan Lianke has been continually heralded as one of the "best contemporary Chinese writers" (The Independent) and "one of the country's fiercest satirists" (The Guardian). Among many awards and honors, he has been twice a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize and he was awarded the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize for his impressive body of work... -
Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFolly Beach Home is the place that knows us best. . . . A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love. With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina's most historic and romantic spots... -
The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrank Bascombe returns, with a new lease on life (and real estate), more acutely in thrall to life’s endless complexities than ever before. A holiday, and a novel, no reader will ever forget—at once hilarious, harrowing, surprising, and profound... -
A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA New York Times Editors' Choice Named a Best Book of 2018 by Bookforum, Nylon, Esquire, and Vulture"This artful and autumnal novel, published in high summer, is a gift to those who wish to receive it."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times"Hilarious, heartbreaking . . . A Terrible Country may be one of the best books you'll read this year... -
The House Of York by Terry Tyler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe House of York ~ a contemporary family drama, spanning the years 1993 - 2014.Widowed single mum, Lisa Grey, and wealthy businessman, Elias York, are young and madly in love. A recipe for happiness? But Lisa is marrying into a complicated family. Her new sister-in-law doesn't want to know her...Categorized as:
historical-fiction romantic-love fiction contemporary psychological mystery retellings book -
Fish in Exile by Vi Khi Nao
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe loss of a child takes mythological, magical casts—distortions that allow us to see the contours of grief more clearly.How do you grieve the death of a child? With fishtanks and jellyfish burials, Persephone’s pomegranate seeds, and affairs with the neighbors...Categorized as:
literary-fiction wlw romantic-love fiction contemporary audiobook 21st-century poc-mc -
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCassandra Edwards is a graduate student at Berkeley: gay, brilliant, nerve-wracked, miserable. At the beginning of this novel, she drives back to her family ranch in the foothills of the Sierras to attend the wedding of her identical twin, Judith, to a nice young doctor from Connecticut. Cassandra, however, is hell-bent on sabotaging the wedding... -
A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories by Amy Bloom
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA great short story has the emotional depth and intensity of a poem and the wholeness and breadth of a novel. Amy Bloom writes great short stories. Her first collection, Come to Me, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and here she deepens and extends her mastery of the form... -
Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of the beloved novel The Giant’s House comes a beautiful new story collection. In “Property,” a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish a rental house by removing his landlord’s possessions... -
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Staggerford by Jon Hassler
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is only a week in the life of a 35-year old bachelor school teacher in a small Minnesota town. But it is an extraodinary week, filled with the poetry of living, the sweetness of expectation, and the glory of surprise that can change a life forever... -
Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter Patty Jane's husband leaves her, she and her irrepressible sister, Harriett, open a neighborhood beauty parlor--complete with live harp music and Norwegian baked goods. It's a warmhearted place where good friends share laughter, tears and comfort. A funny, poignant first novel about the bonds between women, says the Houston Chronicle...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult audiobook book -
The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFollowing the critical and commercial success of An Unnecessary Woman, Alameddine delivers a spectacular portrait of a man and an era of profound political and social upheaval... -
The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe #1 international sensation from a master of European literature—winner of Italy’s Premio Strega—a saga of a Florentine family from the 1960s to the present that brilliantly captures the power of history and the multi-faceted experience of life itself as it explores how we contend with uncontrollable forces that both buffet and buoy us...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book contemporary family fiction -
Tom at the Farm by Michel Marc Bouchard
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs an unexpected guest at his recently deceased lover's funeral, Tom is blindsided by the man's legacy of untruth. With the mother expecting a chain-smoking girlfriend, and the older brother hell-bent on preserving a facade of normalcy, Tom is coerced into participating in the dishonesty until, at last, he confronts the torment that drove his lover to live in the shadows of deceit... -
She and I by Hannah King
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBest friends share everything. But murder is different. Isn’t it?Keeley and Jude are closer than blood. Inseparable since childhood, they share everything: clothes, secrets, booze – and blame. So when they wake up after a new year’s party to find Keeley’s boyfriend stabbed to death beside them, they agree to share something else: the story they’ll tell the police...
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