Books like 'Racing the Rain'
Readers who enjoyed Racing the Rain by John L. Parker Jr. also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
florida north-america usa sports coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction
-
Floating Twigs by Charles Tabb, Neill Thorne
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAfter Jack Turner finds a starving dog while fishing with friends, he talks his alcoholic parents into letting him keep the dog he names Bones, provided Jack can earn the money to care for him. In the process of finding work, Jack meets Hank Pittman, a middle-aged man who lives in a dilapidated school bus at the harbor...Categorized as:
coming-of-age florida historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa animals audiobook -
Doctor Rose and the Outlaw by R.O. Lane
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDoctor Rose Devereaux moves to Durango, Colorado, after her father is killed by a business associate. She sets up her medical practice there. One night she's called out to help a gang of outlaws that have been shot to pieces while trying to rustle cattle. One of the outlaws is a young man that she develops feelings for, but he's in and out of her life for months on end... -
Silva Rerum II by Kristina Sabaliauskaitė
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRomāna darbība notiek no 1707. līdz 1710.gadam. Karš, mēris, bads, nesamērīga greznība un nāvīgs izsalkums, zviedru un krievu karavīri, jūdu ārsti, holandiešu kāršu spēlmaņi, turku konkubīnes, franču dāmas, spītīgi žemaiši un ironiski viļņieši, bezvārda mūks, kurš apglabājis vairāk nekā divdesmit tūkstošus mēra upuru, un, protams, vēl viena bajāru Norvaišu dzimtas paaudze... -
Working Girls by Treasure Hernandez
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWalk with Halleigh and Malek as they introduce you to a new struggle in a new city . . . a place called Flint, Michigan, one of the roughest little cities in America. It's a place where the good die young, loyalty is a rarity, and everybody has a hustle... -
-
Sarah and Solomon: Only A Stone Should Be Alone by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“…Fathers and Give me your children!” – Chaim RumkowskiIt is September 1942, and the already battered occupants of the Lodz Ghetto have just been dealt another horrendous blow from Hitler’s iron fist. They must surrender their sick, elderly, and children for ‘deportation... -
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn & Maggie-Now by Betty Smith
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction book classics fiction historical literary -
Northern Borders: A Novel by Howard Frank Mosher
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA New York Times Notable A novel about growing up in a remote corner of Vermont, from the author Richard Russo calls “one of our very best writers... -
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:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook family parenthood -
All the Forgivenesses by Elizabeth Hardinger
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet in Appalachia and the Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century, this exquisite debut novel paints an intimately rendered portrait of one resilient farm family's challenges and hard-won triumphs--helmed by an unforgettable heroine. Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, fifteen-year-old Albertina "Bertie" Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century audiobook book -
Erin's Child by Sheelagh Kelly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFamily ties have united the Feeneys through famine and poverty, but can they withstand success? It is 1875 and the Feeneys have left the squalor of York’s slums behind them. Yet all is not well. Patrick remains a man of simple tastes, increasingly out of touch with Thomasin’s ambition to expand her business empire still further across Yorkshire... -
The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Sorrow of Angels is the second novel in an epic and elemental trilogy by the winner of the Icelandic Prize for Literature Jón Kalman Stefánsson, and the follow up to Heaven and Hell (publishing in paperback 3/11/15...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure book drama fiction historical -
The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLuanda, 1975. The Angolan War of Independence has been raging for at least a decade, but with the collapse of the Salazar dictatorship, defeat for the Portuguese is now in sight. Thousands of settlers are fleeing back to Portugal to escape the brutality of the Angolan rebels.Rui is fifteen years old...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult book female-author fiction -
The Simple Soul of Susan by Noel Branham
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLove hopes for the simple things to last forever, even though life itself does not.When Susan Combs discovers a heart-breaking truth from the boy she has loved her entire life, she must make a life-altering choice...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction north-america usa book christian contemporary fiction -
The Girl in the Photo by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTheresienstadt Concentration Camp, 1944. ‘I have to go away, my darling. Please, be brave, stay alive, for me.’ Mama’s voice breaks. The little girl tries to stop the forbidden tears from falling, as the train takes her mother, and she is left alone…Berlin, six years later. Hanni Winter glows with pride as she shows her new husband around her first solo photography exhibition...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book female-mc fiction -
-
Spinning Jenny by Sylvia Ann McLain
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"I guess I'll name you Jenny, something I can say easy. That was my mammy's name, anyway. Jenny. You be Jenny from now on..." Cornelius Carson's mother cautioned him never to own slaves, but in 1830s Louisiana, land and slaves are proof of a man's worth. At 23 Cornelius is ambitious, and in love. He owns one elderly slave, Malachi, and a small cotton farm along Bayou Cocodrie...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction louisiana fiction historical slavery -
Earl, Honey by D.S. Getson, Denise Getson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEARL HAHN is slow, the last one to catch on to things. Since the day his father hit him in the head with a two-by-four of loblolly pine, he’s struggled with a “thickness in his brain.” It takes him longer to make the connections others arrive at easily. When his father is prosecuted for the crime of incest, it feels like deliverance for Earl, his mother Lizzie Belle and the entire Hahn family... -
Born in a Treacherous time by Jacqui Murray
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBorn in the harsh world of East Africa 1.8 million years ago, where hunger, death, and predation are a normal part of daily life, Lucy and her band of early humans struggle to survive. It is a time in history when they are relentlessly annihilated by predators, nature, their own people, and the next iteration of man. To make it worse, Lucy’s band hates her... -
Twisted Truths by Kai Juniper
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFinal Book in the Twisted Pine Academy Series! Since arriving at Twisted Pine Academy, I’ve been told things I never wanted to know. Seen things I never wanted to see. Done things I never wanted to do. But when you’re about to lose the guy you love—the one you want to spend forever with—you’ll do anything to keep him. If I want to be with Jackson, I have to take down his accuser... -
Lily by Leigh Greenwood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsZac Randolph owns and runs the Little Corner of Heaven Saloon in San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast. He's a gambler by trade and by nature. He takes care of the girls who work for him, but no woman is as exciting as gambling, no woman means as much to him as his saloon. His life is perfect until a distant cousin, Lily Sterling, arrives from Virginia and upsets everything... -
Signed, A Paddy by Lisa Boyle
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe gruesome truth hung in the air, and none of us wanted to go near it. Not yet.Ireland, 1848. Fourteen-year-old Rosaleen watches her mother die. Her country is reeling from the great potato famine, which will ultimately kill more than one million people. Driven by a promise and her will to survive, Rosaleen flees her small coastal town...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction drama historical female-mc friendship -
After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different by Adam Gnade
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFalling somewhere between Trainspotting and Like Water for Chocolate, Adam Gnade’s self-described “food novel” frames each chapter around a meal, and from there moves wild in all directions. After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different takes place in San Diego taco shops and rundown beach apartments, on the amusement park boardwalk at 3am and in cars bound for Tijuana and drunken glory...Categorized as:
north-america usa coming-of-age literary-fiction california urban fiction contemporary -
Pirate by Steven Becker
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter decades at sea, pirate legend Jose' Gasparilla is prepared to retire. As he and his crew split their treasure, the promise of one final prize lures the ship back into action. Little do they know that the purported riches are nothing but a trap set by the fledgling U.S. Navy! With the crew decimated and the treasure scattered, a new leader must rise from the defeat...Categorized as:
north-america usa florida historical-fiction action-adventure fantasy fiction outlaws -
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... -
They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA magnetic tale of betrayal, art, and ambition, set in the world of professional ballet, New York City during the AIDS crisis, and present-day Los AngelesCarlisle Martin dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer just like her mother, Isabel, a former Balanchine ballerina...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age north-america usa fiction contemporary lgbtq -
-
An Apartment Called Freedom by Ghazi A. Algosaibi
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company... -
Million Dollar Baby: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis hard-hitting collection of powerful and moving tales based on the experiences of the late, great fight manager and cut man Jerry Boyd, who wrote under the pen name F.X. Toole, is the basis for the Oscar-winning motion picture starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman... -
Los nombres de Feliza by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEl 8 de enero de 1982, la escultora colombiana Feliza Bursztyn murió en un restaurante de París. Tenía cuarenta y ocho años. En el momento de su muerte repentina la acompañaban su marido y cuatro amigos. Uno de ellos, el escritor Gabriel García Márquez, publicó días después un artículo que incluía tres palabras en apariencia simples, pero misteriosas en el fondo: «Murió de tristeza»... -
Hannah's Journey by Anna Schmidt
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat could bring an Amish widow and a wealthy circus owner together? Though Hannah Goodloe knew she'd violated countless unwritten laws, she had to visit the only man who could help find her runaway son. But when the enigmatic Levi Harmon agreed to take her on his train, the results were utterly unpredictable... -
Ward by Leigh Greenwood
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe freedom of the range, the bawling of the longhorns, the lonesome night watch beneath a vast, starry sky--they get into a man's blood until he knew there was nothing better than the life of a cowboy ... except the love of a good woman. MARINADevastated by a ruthless betrayal, disillusioned by the War Between the States, Ward Dillon swore he'd escape his bitter past and start anew .. -
The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA searing book club novel for fans of Where the Crawdad's Sing and The Girls in the Stilt House following one girl fighting for her family, her body, and her right to create a future all her ownSome folks will do anything to control the wild spirit of a Carolina girl...For fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is as simple as it is free...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book family female-mc -
Animal Person: Stories by Alexander MacLeod
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe highly anticipated new book of short fiction from the O. Henry Prize winner Alexander MacLeod—a magnificent collection about the needs, temptations, and tensions that exist just beneath the surface of our lives... -
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe eagerly awaited follow-up to Pulitzer Prize-finalist Tommy Orange’s breakout best seller There There —winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the John Leonard Prize, the American Book Award, and one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2018— Wandering Stars traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through to the shattering aftermath of...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction colorado fiction historical indigenous-mc -
Psycho-Tropics by Dorian Box
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Marrying humor with suspense is not easy, but it comes across masterfully .... A truly enjoyable read." -- Writer's Digest Award Winner in Genre FictionA high school reunion unburies the past (literally) in this twisted mystery of revenge and redemption. Lottery-winning surfer Danny Teakwell seems to be living the life, but he's been hiding a terrible secret, punishing himself for two decades... -
In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this richly evocative novel--the moving story of one boy's coming of age--acclaimed author Roland Merullo will make you nostalgic for a small Massachusetts city called Revere even if you've never been there. Providing a window into an unspoiled America of forty years ago, In Revere welcomes you to the fiercely loyal and devoted Italian-American family of the Benedettos...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult boarding-school book fiction historical -
-
Tales of Protection by Erik Fosnes Hansen
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn eccentric scientist lies dead in his coffin reflecting on the past and his last experiment--collecting random incidents from human history and finding the underlying pattern that connects them... -
-
If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTime travel meets baseball in this "grand adventure" about a modern-day reporter who witnesses the birth of America's favorite pastime (The Washington Times)Contemporary reporter Sam Fowler is stuck in a dull job and a failing marriage when he is suddenly transported back to the summer of 1869...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction sports action-adventure adult book fiction historical -
The Big Switch: It's never too late by John Thomas
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhat does a 24-year-old man want in life? Love? A decent job? Keith has both. He is a software engineer at a reputable company and has a girlfriend whom he loves a lot. Yet, there is something missing in his life. He is not even close to being happy. Only after losing his girlfriend, he realizes what the reason for his unhappiness is. He realizes that he is caught up in the wrong career... -
River on Fire by Scott Pratt
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"River on Fire" is the story of Randall Smith, a foundling orphan growing up in the midwestern United States in the late 1960s. Without the intimate guidance of loving parents, Randall struggles to understand a dangerous and confusing world during one of the most tumultuous times in modern history...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction bildungsroman book christian fiction historical -
Once a Runner by John L. Parker Jr.
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOnce a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner; to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. It has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever written...Categorized as:
coming-of-age florida literary-fiction north-america sports usa action-adventure adult -
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:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction audiobook contemporary family book -
Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first.For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction coming-of-age literary-fiction massachusetts fiction audiobook -
1933 Was a Bad Year by John Fante
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTrapped in a small, poverty-ridden town in 1933, under pressure from his father to go into the family business, seventeen-year-old Dominic Molise yearns to fulfill his own dreams...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america sports usa 20th-century book -
Again to Carthage by John L. Parker Jr.
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJohn L. Parker, Jr.’s first novel, Once a Runner, is the cult novel for runners. Self-published in the late 1970s, and for years sold out of the trunk of the author’s car at running events, it went on to sell over 100,000 copies and achieve legendary status among runners.It perfectly captured the intensity, relentlessness, and sheer lunacy of a serious miler’s life...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction sports action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction -
-
The Hungry Road by Marita Conlon-McKenna
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn its brilliant recreation of the Great Irish Famine, the children's historical novel Under the Hawthorn Tree is beloved by millions and is considered a classic. Now, the Number One Irish bestseller and award-winning author is turning her hand to the definitive adult novel of those hard times, with The Hungry Road...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book family female-author -
Trail To Yesterday by Duane Boehm
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTrail To Yesterday is the newest novel by Bestselling Western author Duane Boehm. He has written another western novel with enough humor, heartbreak, love, and outlaws to keep you turning the page.When Ike and Luka Gunther moved to the Montana Territory to start new lives, they thought they'd left behind all their troubles from their days in Colorado... -
Stars of Alabama: A Novel by Sean of the South by Sean Dietrich
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsUnlikely heroes form unlikely bonds in this poignant and redemptive new novel from Sean Dietrich. When two Depression-era migrant workers, Paul and Vern, find an abandoned baby in the woods, they take it upon themselves to care for the mysterious child.When fifteen-year-old Marigold, reviled by her family after an unwanted pregnancy, loses her baby in the forest, her whole world is painted black...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa action-adventure audiobook book -
Whistling Woman by C.C. Tillery
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the waning years of the 19th century, Bessie Daniels grows up in the small town of Hot Springs in western North Carolina. Secure in the love of her father, yet troubled with her mother's desire that she be a proper Southern belle, Bessie is determined to forge her own way in life. Or, as her Cherokee great- grandmother, Elisi, puts it, to be a whistling woman...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book fiction historical rural -
Jephte's Daughter by Naomi Ragen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA modern classic of Jewish-American literature, a remarkable journey into the shrouded world of Chassidic women. Naomi Ragen's first novel has been called "one of the too most important Jewish books." Abraham Ha-Levi is a wealthy American businessman and the last male survivor of an important Orthodox Jewish family... -
Wade in the Water by Nyani Nkrumah
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTold in two voices, Ella’s and Ms. St. James’s, and set around richly developed characters, this riveting, page turning coming of age story will keep readers entranced until the last shocking revelation...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age mississippi fiction historical
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.