Books like 'Somersault'
Readers who enjoyed Somersault by Kenzaburō Ōe & Philip Gabriel also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary 20th century east-asia japan religion asia literary-fiction spirituality christian
-
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's monumental contribution to American fiction. There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult anthologies classics -
The First Lady of Three Rivers Ranch by Liz Isaacson, Elana Johnson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRead how it all started at Three Rivers Ranch in this bonus prequel novel that features Frank Ackerman and Heidi Duffin. Heidi Duffin has been dreaming about opening her own bakery since she was thirteen years old. She scrimped and saved for years to afford baking and pastry school in San Francisco. And now she only has one year left before she's a certified pastry chef...Categorized as:
christian religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult book contemporary -
THE IRISH COWBOY by D.W. Ulsterman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHe gave his word, refused to break a vow, and lost his one chance at true love. Now they’ve come for his land. Hap Wilkes is a man facing a painful past, an increasingly uncertain future, and now fights with everything left in a broken and failing body to keep the one thing still left to him – his pride... -
These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn These High, Green Hills we're once again in Mitford, a southern village of local characters so heartwarming and hilarious you'll wish you lived right next door. At last, Mitford's rector and lifelong bachelor, Father Tim, has married his talented and vivacious neighbor, Cynthia...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century audiobook book classics -
-
Out to Canaan by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFather Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his talented and vivacious wife, Cynthia, are pondering the murky uncertainties of retirement. They're also trying to locate the scattered siblings of Dooley Barlowe, the mountain boy they love as their own. A brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development, and a tough survivor must hunker down for the fight of her life... -
Just Once by Karen Kingsbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe #1 New York Times bestselling author “known for her deeply heartfelt novels” (Woman’s World) writes a sweeping and unforgettable World War II love story about a young woman torn between two brothers. In 1941, beautiful Irvel Ellis is too focused on her secret to take much notice in the war raging overseas...Categorized as:
christian spirituality romance historical-fiction fiction ww2 contemporary womens-fiction -
Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsLeaf by Niggle is a short story about a painter who is working on a picture leaf by leaf. Niggle, the painter, is a kind hearted soul and goes out of his way to help his friends and neighbours but eventually finds that this prevents him from completing his masterpiece. He has a hard decision to make; when engrossed in his work, his neighbour asks him to fix his roof using his art supplies...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century audiobook book children -
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThis now classic book revealed Flannery O'Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook -
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... -
A Light in the Window by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratings- Readers will enjoy a story from the popular series-packaged bestseller!- Includes new Reader's Guide for group discussion or personal... -
Autumn Daffodils - Charlie's Story: Heart warming, thought provoking story. A look back on life and relationships. by Peter Turnham
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis is the first book in the two-part "Autumn Daffodils" story. Five extraordinary people, having retired early in order to escape their past, find themselves reliving the very past they came to the 'Village' to forget. What unites the group is the guilt, shame or sorrow they have each tried so hard to leave behind... -
A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe sixth novel in the beloved Mitford series, by the bestselling author of At Home in Mitford and Somebody Safe with Somebody Good Laughter and wedding bells ring as Jan Karon takes her millions of fans back in time to the most cherished event in Mitford! Mitford's Lord's Chapel seats barely two hundred souls, yet millions of Jan Karon's fans will be there for the most joyful event in years:... -
What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrancis Cornish was always good at keeping secrets. From the well-hidden family secret of his childhood to his mysterious encounters with a small-town embalmer, an expert art restorer, a Bavarian countess, and various masters of espionage, the events in Francis's life were not always what they seemed... -
In My Father's Court by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLike Isaac Bashevis Singer's fiction, this poignant memoir of his childhood in the household and rabbinical court of his father is full of spirits and demons, washerwomen and rabbis, beggars and rich men...Categorized as:
religion literary-fiction spirituality fiction classics 20th-century anthropomorphism contemporary -
-
Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA major classic of 1930s literature, Antal Szerb's Journey by Moonlight (Utas és Holdvilág) is the fantastically moving and darkly funny story of a bourgeois businessman torn between duty and desire.'On the train, everything seemed fine. The trouble began in Venice ...'Mihály has dreamt of Italy all his life...Categorized as:
literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAficionados of South American fiction as well as literary critics will welcome this posthumous translation of a nearly plotless novel by one of Brazil's foremost writers. Availing herself of a single character, Lispector transforms a banal situation—a woman at home, alone—into an amphitheater for philosophical investigations... -
Angels and Men by Catherine Fox
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsParson’s daughter Mara Johns arrives as a postgraduate student at a great northern cathedral city. Antagonistic to the church and fiercely independent, she repels all friendly overtures and seeks spiritual answers in her theological research. But when her past involvement in an extreme sect resurfaces, she finds her quest won’t stay academic... -
Texas Treasure by Sharon Gillenwater
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsChristian Contemporary Romance Buckley, Texas Series -- Book 2 Deeply wounded by the infidelity of his late wife, widower Grant Adams has stuck to his vow to avoid all women. But when bright, bubbly antiques dealer Dawn Carson enters his life, he is unexpectedly touched by her gentle spirit... -
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsWyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate originals - pictures the painters themselves might have envied... -
A Million Little Lies by Bette Lee Crosby
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA lifetime of lies, and a truth too painful to tell.When Suzanna Duff was ten years old, she lost her mama, and that’s when the lies began. At first, they were just harmless little fibs, a way to hide her unbearable loneliness and the truth about a daddy who came home rip-roaring drunk every night... -
Cross My Heart by Robin Lee Hatcher
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo broken paths lead toward God’s redemption in the next installment of Robin Lee Hatcher’s Legacy of Faith series. Ashley Showalter and Ben Henning have so much in common. Both were raised by single moms. Both want to help where they see a need. And both work with horses in the Idaho valley...Categorized as:
christian spirituality religion contemporary fiction historical-fiction audiobook animals -
Mount Analogue by René Daumal
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this novel/allegory the narrator/author sets sail in the yacht Impossible to search for Mount Analogue, the geographically located, albeit hidden, peak that reaches inexorably toward heaven. Daumal's symbolic mountain represents a way to truth that "cannot not exist," and his classic allegory of man's search for himself embraces the certainty that one can know and conquer one's own reality...Categorized as:
literary-fiction spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics contemporary -
The Forgotten Recipe by Amy Clipston
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter losing her fiancé in a tragic accident, Veronica Fisher finds solace in the old recipes stored in her mother’s hope chest—and in a special visitor who comes to her bake stand to purchase her old-fashioned raspberry pies. Veronica Fisher knows how lucky she is to be marrying her best friend. Seth Lapp is kind, hardworking, and handsome—but most importantly, he loves Veronica... -
When Night Comes by Dan Walsh
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJack Turner comes back to Culpepper to give a series of lectures for his old history professor. Within days, he starts having bizarre experiences at night. Like he's traveling back in time, experiencing the epic events in his lectures firsthand. He has no control over these experiences and can't make them stop... -
-
Mister God, This Is Anna: The True Story of a Very Special Friendship by Fynn
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the moment Anna and Fynn locked eyes, their times together were filled with delight and discovery. In her completely frank and honest way, Anna had an astonishing ability to ask--and answer--life's largest questions, and to feel the purpose of being. You see, Anna had a very special friendship with Mr. God...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century book children classics -
Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOnce Leota’s garden was a place of beauty—where flowers bloomed and hope thrived. It was her refuge from the deep wounds inflicted by a devastating war, her sanctuary where she knelt before a loving God and prayed for the children who couldn’t understand her silent sacrifices.At eighty-four, Leota is alone, her beloved garden in ruins... -
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIn this propulsive novel by the author of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and The Elephant Vanishes, one of the most idiosyncratically brilliant writers at work in any language fuses science fiction, the hard-boiled thriller and white-hot satire into a new element of the literary periodic table... -
Jenny Kissed Me! by Thomas Allen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Jenny finds an old letter in a shoebox, her mind is flooded with memories of a long forgotten love. She and Jonathan had secretly loved one another in high school, but never shared those feelings except for that one time in the library their senior year. Jenny had impetuously kissed Jonathan—a moment neither forgot. Four decades have passed...Categorized as:
christian spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction -
The Witnesses by Linda Byler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNote: product cancelled, or possibly postponed--Good Books went out of business in December 2013 and was acquired by Skyhorse Publishing in a bankruptcy court auction in September 2014 The Witnesses is the third novel in Amish novelist, Linda Byler’s current series, “Lancaster Burning... -
Iced by Ray Shell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn this harrowing debut, Shell mixes the syncopated language of the streets with poetry from the heart to take the reader deep into the horrifying, mesmerizing world of Cornelius Washington, Jr., a 40-year-old crack addict trapped in a life that's dominated by drugs. "A powerhouse."--Maya Angelou...Categorized as:
literary-fiction spirituality fiction substance-abuse poc-mc cults 20th-century contemporary -
The Beloved: Reflections on the Path of the Heart by Kahlil Gibran
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsExquisite writings on love, marriage, and the spiritual union of souls add a fresh dimension to our understanding of the philosophy of love and the transformation of one's life through its all-encompassing power... -
One Night With a Rock Star by Chana Keefer
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGood, Country-bred girl meets the Rock Star of her dreams and worlds collide.For Esther Collins, struggling journalism student and mediocre print model, international singing star Sky has been the ultimate male since she sported frizzy hair, braces and too-skinny legs. She has dreamed of meeting this icon countless times. But life has a way of happening when you least expect it.. -
Loading Mercury With a Pitchfork by Richard Brautigan
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFirst published 1976, Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork, a collection of ninety-four poems, was Brautigan's seventh collection of poetry; his ninth poetry book publication. This collection was unique in that the poems were grouped in eight titled sections and featured the crow as a dominant figure throughout... -
Love Without End by Robin Lee Hatcher
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsChet and Kimberly have both failed when it comes to love. Will they risk their hearts to love again? Chet Leonard's life was forever changed when his seventeen year old son died and then, soon after, his wife walked out on their family. Over two years later, all he wants to do is hold onto his horse ranch and raise his remaining sons to be honorable men... -
-
The Knot of Vipers by François Mauriac, David Lodge
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe masterpiece of one of the greatest modern Catholic writersthe divine grace that remains available to each of us until the very moment of our deaths. It is the unforgettable tale of the battle for one man's soul... -
Bamboo & Lace by Lori Wick
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBestselling author Lori Wick sails readers to an exotic island1/4and an intriguing romance.Lily Walsh has spent all of her 24 years as a missionary's daughter on the Asian island of Kashien. Isolated from the western world, she devours the letters she receives from her brother in Hawaii. When her father reluctantly allows Lily to visit Jeff, she is thrilled-until he is called away...Categorized as:
christian religion spirituality 20th-century book contemporary fiction historical-fiction -
The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFirst published in 1960, The Violent Bear It Away is now a landmark in American literature. It is a dark and absorbing example of the Gothic sensibility and bracing satirical voice that are united in Flannery O'Conner's work... -
Mist by Miguel de Unamuno
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA towering figure of political, philosophical, and literary controversy, Miguel de Unamuno was the undisputed intellectual leader of the brilliant Generation of 1898 that ushered in a second golden age of Spanish culture... -
Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt is going to be a cold winter in Rocklin, Colorado for the family of Svevo Bandini. The immigrant Italian bricklayer is spending his money at the Imperial Poolhall and his time at the widow Hildegarde's.His angelic wife Maria stays at home, cleaning, praying, dreading the arrival of her fearsome mother...Categorized as:
literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century bildungsroman book classics colorado -
Литературный призрак (Большой роман) by David Mitchell, Дэвид Митчелл
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsOblivious to the bizarre ways in which their lives intersect, nine characters - a terrorist in Okinawa, a record-shop clerk in Tokyo, a money-laundering British financier in Hong Kong, an old woman running a tea shack in China, a transmigrating "noncorpum" entity seeking a human host in Mongolia, a gallery-attendant-cum-art-thief in Petersburg, a drummer in London, a female physicist in Ireland,... -
The Lyre of Orpheus by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsHailed as a literary masterpiece, Robertson Davies' The Cornish Trilogy comes to a brilliant conclusion in the bestselling Lyre of Orpheus.There is an important decision to be made... -
Death in Midsummer and Other Stories by Yukio Mishima
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRecognized throughout the world for his brilliance as a novelist and playwright, Yukio Mishima is also noted as a master of the short story in his native Japan. Here nine of his finest stories, selected by Mishima himself, represent his extraordinary ability to depict a wide variety of human beings in moments of significance... -
Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch by Henry Miller
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhence Henry Miller's title for this, one of his most appealing books; first published in 1957, it tells the story of Miller's life on the Big Sur, a section of California coast where he lived for fifteen years.Big Sur is the portrait of a place one of the most colorful in the U.S...Categorized as:
literary-fiction spirituality 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary fiction -
Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn amateur production of The Tempest provides a colourful backdrop for an hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows that she has plans of her own, Hector despairs and tries to commit suicide on the play's opening night... -
-
The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2018For weeks, someone has been broadcasting people's secrets from the minarets of the city's mosques, striking fear into the hearts of Christians and Muslims alike. Then when shots ring out on the Grand Trunk Road, and Nargis's husband, Massud, a fellow architect, is caught in the crossfire, she is unable to confess to him her greatest secret before he dies...Categorized as:
religion literary-fiction spirituality fiction contemporary politics audiobook realistic -
Koolaid's Art of War by Rabih Alameddine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDetailing the impact of the AIDS epidemic and the Lebanese civil war in Beirut on a circle of friends and family, "Koolaids" tells the stories of characters who can no longer love or think except in fragments of time, each of which goes off along its own trajectory and immediately disappears... -
The Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeftly combining the sacred and the profane—the unmistakable hallmark of her fiction over the past decade—Susan Howatch gives us a spellbinding, suspenseful and psychologically intense new novel. The financial heart of London—the City—is an adrenaline-charged square mile deep in recession in the 1990s, a place where sex is just another commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace...Categorized as:
christian literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book contemporary -
Sepharad: A Novel by Antonio Muñoz Molina
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn “amazing” novel about the diaspora of Sephardic Jews amid the tumult of twentieth century history (The Washington Post Book World).From one of Spain’s most celebrated writers, this extraordinary blend of fiction, history, and memoir tells the story of the Sephardic diaspora through seventeen interlinked chapters...Categorized as:
literary-fiction religion spirituality fiction historical-fiction war ww2 contemporary -
The Origin of the Brunists by Robert Coover
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOriginally published in 1966 and now back in print after over a decade, Robert Coover's first novel instantly established his mastery. A coal-mine explosion in a small mid-American town claims ninety-seven lives. The only survivor, a lapsed Catholic given to mysterious visions, is adopted as a doomsday prophet by a group of small-town mystics... -
The Means That Make Us Strangers by Christine Kindberg
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHome is where your people are. But who are your people?Adelaide has lived her whole life in rural Ethiopia, where she and her family are the only white people she knows. Then her family moves to South Carolina, in 1964.Adelaide promises she'll return to Ethiopia and become part of the village for good...Categorized as:
christian religion spirituality historical-fiction fiction young-adult coming-of-age contemporary
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.