Books like 'My October'
Readers who enjoyed My October by Claire Holden Rothman also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary literary-fiction family historical-fiction poc-mc
-
The Ones We Leave Behind by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiane picked up her mother’s phone. “How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after sixty-five years?” the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. “My grandmother is alive?” That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family.1955 – Anna Bergman Craine’s life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison... -
Ties That Bind by Brenda Jackson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt all started in college, in the turbulent sixties, when Randolph and Jenna became lovers. Randolph knew the moment he saw Jenna Haywood that he had to make her his. But the path to love is not an easy one. His wealthy Grandmother Julia disapproves of the match and unbeknowst to him, his brother's seemingly docile fiancee has a few plans of her own that she would like to set in motion... -
Going Home by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn 1970, Violet Hawkins’ only wish at eighteen is to escape her life in the Dayton, Ohio, foster-care system and make her way to the west coast to enjoy a mellow life and find the love she’s been missing all her life. She makes it to San Francisco, but soon learns she needs a job if she’s to live properly...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction anthologies audiobook contemporary female-mc fiction -
Because by Mo Willems
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMo Willems, a number one New York Times best-selling author and illustrator, composes a powerful symphony of chance, discovery, persistence, and magic in this moving tale of a young girl's journey to center stage. Illustrator Amber Ren brings Willems' music to life, conducting a stunning picture-book debut... -
-
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 family fiction contemporary audiobook coming-of-age parenthood -
Tak: The A**hole Club Series by Ivy Harper
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom Bestselling author Ivy HarperTakLet them call me what they want, I know the truth. It all begins with the music, it follows me everywhere I go. Living as if every day is my last, I stand on the edge of life and death. Now everything around me is changing, dancing to music that’s not my own. My world is slowly falling apart because my friends are changing the rules.Then it happens. FML... -
Always by Blue Saffire
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratings**Warning: This title is a re-release of Blue's website exclusive Never. It's been totally rewritten with over 116 pages of new content.***Award winning, Bestselling, Author Blue Saffire presentsAlwaysKingShe’s been wanting in my bed for a long, long time. I should’ve shut that shit all the way down, but I’ve been flirting with Misty for years... -
The Wishing Tide by Barbara Davis
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of The Secrets She Carried comes a novel about the pull of the past and the power of love. As offseason begins on the Outer Banks, a storm makes landfall, and three unlikely strangers are drawn together... Five years ago, Lane Kramer moved to Starry Point, certain the quaint island village was the place to start anew...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book contemporary female-mc fiction -
Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man struggling to find strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in literary fiction...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family poc-mc historical-fiction fiction contemporary indigenous-mc audiobook -
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.. -
Christmas for the Halfpenny Orphans by Cathy Sharp
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA gritty and compelling drama from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny Street. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Sheila Jeffries.Little twin sisters, Sarah and Samantha are all alone in the world. When their mother died giving birth to Sarah, she was blamed for the death by her father and her learning difficulties serve only to make him more angry and violent towards her... -
Her First Palestinian by Saeed Teebi
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsElegant, surprising stories about Palestinian immigrants in Canada navigating their identities in circumstances that push them to the emotional brink.Saeed Teebi’s intense, engrossing stories plunge into the lives of characters grappling with their experiences as Palestinian immigrants to Canada...Categorized as:
literary-fiction poc-mc historical-fiction fiction contemporary anthologies realistic poc-author -
Grown Women by Sarai Johnson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this stunning debut novel, four generations of complex Black women contend with motherhood and daughterhood, generational trauma and the deeply ingrained tensions and wounds that divide them as they redefine happiness and healing for themselves. Erudite Evelyn, her cynical daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s optimistic daughter Corinna see the world very differently...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction poc-mc fiction audiobook coming-of-age contemporary -
OUR TREES STILL GROW IN DEHRA by Ruskin Bond
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFourteen engaging stories from one of India's master story-tellers Semi-autobiographical in nature, these stories span the period from the author's childhood to the present. We are introduced, in a series of beautifully imagined and crafted cameos, to the author's family, friends, and various other people who left a lasting impression on him...Categorized as:
literary-fiction poc-mc action-adventure anthologies children-books contemporary fiction -
-
Island: The Complete Stories by Alistair MacLeod
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe sixteen exquisitely crafted stories in Island prove Alistair MacLeod to be a master. Quietly, precisely, he has created a body of work that is among the greatest to appear in English in the last fifty years.A book-besotted patriarch releases his only son from the obligations of the sea. A father provokes his young son to violence when he reluctantly sells the family horse...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary -
The Shiver by Jakub Małecki
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsONLY ONE CHAPTER - 1938-1969 One of the most renowned books of 2015.Polish bestseller.The book compared to the works of Johnatan Carroll, Fiodor Dostojewski, Andy Weir and Jurij Andruchowycz.The novel has been recommended by the best Polish Wiesław Myśliwski, Jacek Dukaj, Szczepan Twardoch, Wit Szostak.Masterly prose wrapped in magical realism...Categorized as:
literary-fiction historical-fiction family fiction contemporary audiobook magical-realism fantasy -
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
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
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
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... -
The Color of Hope by Kim Cash Tate
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHope shines brightest when all seems lost. Stephanie London led a life of comfort and ease in St. Louis before feeling inexplicably drawn back to her father’s roots in the tiny Southern town of Hope Springs. Charlotte Willoughby has lived there all her life and longs to make a new life somewhere else. Stephanie doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing there—or how to occupy her time...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc adult black-mc book christian contemporary -
Fighting for Tara: a novel by Sunanda J. Chatterjee
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHow far will a mother go to save her child? “I have no use for a baby girl. Get rid of her tonight!” He towered over her as she cringed in fear. But Hansa, a thirteen-year-old child-bride in rural India, refuses to remain a victim of the oppressive society where a female child is an unwanted burden. Instead of drowning her baby, Hansa escapes from her village with three-month-old Tara... -
Tinsel and Terriers by Cressida McLaughlin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHilarious and touching, Primrose Terrace will appeal to fans of Game of Scones, Wickham Hall and The Grand Reopening of Dandelion Cafe. Christmas is coming to Primrose Terrace, Pooch Promenade is doing brilliantly and Cat has made lots of new friends in the street, both dogs and their owners. Life seems good. Things start to go badly when Cat learns something about Mark that she wishes she hadn’t... -
The Gulf by Anna Spargo-Ryan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"He found an egg at the park so he incubated it and this tortoise hatched out."Skye’s sixteen, and her mum’s got yet another new boyfriend. Trouble is, Jason’s bad news. Really bad. Now Mum’s quit her job and they’re all moving north to Port Flinders, population nobody."That's a Southern Right Whale. They have the largest balls of any animal in the world... -
-
Thousand Star Hotel by Bao Phi
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThousand Star Hotel confronts the silence around racism, police brutality, and the invisibility of the Asian American urban poor.From “with thanks to Sahra Nguyen for the refugee style slogan”:They give the kids candy to bet.My daughter loses the first four rounds,she’s a quiet wire as they take her candy away, piece by piece.When she finally wins, I ask if she wants to play again...Categorized as:
poc-mc historical-fiction family fiction contemporary poc-author social-commentary book -
The Healers by Ayi Kwei Armah
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFiction. African Studies. THE HEALERS tells a story of the conflict and regeneration focused on replacing toxic ignorance with the healing knowledge of African unity...Categorized as:
historical-fiction poc-mc literary-fiction fiction contemporary 20th-century romantic-love medical -
No Honour by Awais Khan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA young woman defies convention in a small Pakistani village, with devastating results for her and her family. A stunning, immense beautiful novel about courage, family and the meaning of love, when everything seems lost… In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect... -
Shrink to Fit by Dona Sarkar
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLosing weight is the solution to all basketball-star Leah Mandeville's problems, or so she thinks. Getting superthin a) help her jump shotb) make her look like America's Next Top Modelc) get the attention of the high school hottie who ignores any girl with a little junk in the trunkAnd it's working, isn't it? Her boo is now crushing on her. Everyone says how good she looks... -
THE SALVANT BROTHERS: Book 1- Axl (Second Chance Romance) by Sonja B.
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsI am death. My face is the last thing my targets see before I snatch their souls from their bodies. I gain strength from their fear and pleasure from their screams. Just hearing my name will make a mother fucker think twice about crossing me. In my line of business there is no weakness and there’s definitely no room for love... -
Chai Time At Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure.Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings... -
Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe third collection of poetry from the author of Lighthead , winner of the 2010 National Book AwardWatch for the new collection of poetry from Terrance Hayes, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin , coming in June of 2018Terrance Hayes is an elegant and adventurous writer with disarming humor, grace, tenderness, and brilliant turns of phrase... -
The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems by Michael Ondaatje
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMichael Ondaatje’s new selected poems, The Cinnamon Peeler, brings together poems written between 1963 and 1990, including work from his most recent collection, Secular Love. These poems bear witness to the extraordinary gifts that have won high praise for this truly original poet and novelist... -
Skinship: Stories by Yoon Choi
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA PEN/ROBERT W...Categorized as:
literary-fiction poc-mc family fiction contemporary anthologies audiobook poc-author -
The Story of Us: A Novel by Catherine Hernandez
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of Canada Reads finalist Scarborough , a stunning new novel about the unbreakable bond of family and the magic that can happen when we meet in the middle Like many Overseas Filipino Workers, Mary Grace Concepcion has lived a life of sacrifices. First, she left her husband, Ale, to be a caregiver in Hong Kong... -
-
Brothers and Sisters by Bebe Moore Campbell
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe phenomenal New York Times bestseller, now for the first time in trade paperback. Living and working in Los Angeles, a young African-American woman finds herself torn between loyalty to her race and her commitment to a cause... -
Baby Love by Sienna Mynx
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeing married has never been sexier... Tia Jackson Reed is seven months pregnant and madly in love with her husband and the life he's shown her. She plans to have it all: family, success, and the career she's work so hard to achieve. That is, until her husband's desires for domesticated bliss collide with her own... -
Susan by Lena Kennedy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSusan is a London slum child, brought up in an East End orphanage. Rebelling against its rigid rules, she runs away to Soho and is adopted by a group of prostitutes. Soon, she too is earning her living 'on the game'. When Billy 'Apples' Rafferty, a Cockney villain with a heart of gold, becomes her protector, Sue swears to give up her racy life... -
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... -
An Unlasting Home: A Novel by Mai Al-Nakib
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"So fresh and unsettling that it will enchant you from the first page and linger for days after reading...Its epic family saga style echoes that of Hala Alyan’s Salt Houses and The Arsonists’ City , Ayad Akhtar’s Homeland Elegies , and Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family poc-mc fiction contemporary audiobook poc-author -
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWritten as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, J. Nozipo Maraire evokes the moving story of a mother reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary epistolary 20th-century book -
Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDarnmoor, The Gateway to Happiness. The sign taunts a fool into feeling some sense of achievement, some kind of end- that you have reached a destination in the very least. Yet as the sign states, Darnmoor is merely a gateway, a waypoint on the road to where you really want to be.Darnmoor is the home of the Billymil family, three generations who have lived in this 'gateway town'...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc family fiction magical-realism contemporary audiobook -
Medea and Her Children by Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Ludmila Ulitskaya
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMedea Georgievna Sinoply Mendez is an iconic figure in her Crimean village, the last remaining pure-blooded Greek in a family that has lived on that coast for centuries. Childless Medea is the touchstone of a large family, which gathers each spring and summer at her home...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book contemporary -
Between Friends by Amos Oz
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings'On the kibbutz it's hard to know. We're all supposed to be friends but very few really are.'Amos Oz's compelling new fiction offers revelatory glimpses into the secrets and frustrations of the human heart, played out by a community of misfits united by political disagreement, intense dissatisfaction and lifetimes of words left unspoken...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook contemporary -
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 family fiction audiobook contemporary coming-of-age book -
-
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsKiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison... -
Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEvery estranged member of the Lafayette clan has descended upon the crumbling Arkansas homestead to settle the accounts of the newly-dead patriarch. As his three adult children sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk, they collide over clutter, debt, and a contentious family history...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc drama fiction male-author contemporary black-mc -
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by her own Iranian-American heritage, the acclaimed author weaves a beautifully crafted story of mothers and daughters, secrets and lies, and defying expectations—even when those choices come with an irrevocable cost...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary audiobook friendship female-mc -
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... -
The Lover by A.B. Yehoshua, Philip Simpson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Elusive, haunting.”— New York Times Book Review A husband’s search for his wife’s lover, lost amid the turbulence of the Yom Kippur War, is the heart of this dreamlike novel. Through five different perspectives, Yehoshua explores the realities and consequences of the affair and the search, laying bare deep-rooted tensions within family, between generations, between Jews and Arabs...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary fiction -
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.