Books like 'Spontaneous Combustion'
Readers who enjoyed Spontaneous Combustion by David B. Feinberg also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance 20th century lgbtq mlm literary-fiction humor historical-fiction
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The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by João Guimarães Rosa
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLively reminiscences of bandit warfare in the sertao, the still primitive Brazilian back country, told by a wise, retired outlaw chief. ~Worldcat.orgGrande Sertão: Veredas (Portuguese for "Great Backlands: Tracks"; English translation: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands) is a novel published in 1956 by the Brazilian writer João Guimarães Rosa...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book classics fiction historical -
Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn occupied France, two people sacrificed everything. Now their granddaughter has come looking for the truth…Ruth’s childhood was a happy one, and her family—on her mother’s side—large and loving. But her father’s French origins have always remained a mystery. Now, with aged relatives beginning to die, Ruth decides to research her father’s family before it’s too late... -
Boy Underground by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDuring WWII, a teenage boy finds his voice, the courage of his convictions, and friends for life in an emotional and uplifting novel by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don’t approve, he’s found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction mlm 20th-century audiobook book coming-of-age -
The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratings1938, Salzburg. A powerful story of hope, forbidden love, and incredible courage, about three sisters who will risk everything—even their own lives—as part of the resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Austria.Johanna, Birgit and Lotte Eder have always lived quiet lives, working in their father’s clockmaking shop and helping their mother in the house... -
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Dreams of the Island by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHenry McAvoy leaned forward. “I have been looking for an artist just like you—a diamond in the rough, so to speak. And really, Miss Copley,” he said gently, “what do you have to lose?”1911, Amherst Island, Canada: When a chance encounter takes Ellen Copley away from the beautiful island she has called home since she was orphaned as a child—she believes it is the new start she has been waiting for...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical ww1 high-school fiction 20th-century -
The Children Of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe second book in the Lovely Lane series from Nadine Dorries. Lily hates the sound of children playing - the ceaseless shouting and laughter and kicking of balls to and fro in the street outside the rough Liverpool tenement where she lives... -
The Girls in Blue by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJane Hadley has nothing to lose when she runs away to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Whatever faces her in war-torn London can't be any worse than staying at home with her abusive father...The city is nothing like she could have imagined, but she's soon on the move, travelling from base to base for her top-secret training...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical fiction ww2 war coming-of-age -
Miss You Forever by Josephine Cox
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne winter's night Rosie finds a woman sheltering in her yard. Kathleen looks like an aged vagabond, carrying all her worldly possessions, including her diaries, in a grubby tapestry bag. When Kathleen entrusts the diaries to Rosie, she reads a heartrending tale of stolen dreams, true love, and loss...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book family female-author -
The Promise by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA wonderfully heartwarming, touching and romantic story - Tammy Robinson Author of Differently Normal Two women from different generations brought together by another’s wrongdoing. When British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction humor romance historical 20th-century fiction mystery -
Millions of Pebbles by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt is the darkest time in the history of mankind, and fate is playing a twisted game.Benjamin Rabinowitz’s world is crashing down on him, a painful reality following the invasion of Poland. He is loath to let his wife and sickly son go but escaping the horrors of the Lodz ghetto seems to be their best chance at survival, albeit slim... -
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsAn emotional, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, queer mid-century romance for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over, about grief and found family, between the new star shortstop stuck in a batting slump and the reporter assigned to (reluctantly) cover his first season—set in the same universe as We Could Be So Good.The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life... -
Pygmalion / My Fair Lady by George Bernard Shaw, Alan Jay Lerner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe ancient Greeks tell the legend of the sculptor Pygmalion, who created a statue of a woman of such surpassing beauty that he fell in love with his own creation. Then, Aphrodite, taking pity on this man whose love could not reach beyond the barrier of stone, brought the statue to life and gave her to Pygmalion as his bride...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook classics -
Lady Constantine and the Sins of Lord Kilgore by Julie Johnstone
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the game of love, even a rogue can come undone by his own wicked wager. Callum, the Marquess of Kilgore, long ago accepted that he was no saint. So when he’s offered a shameful bet—to seduce the lady some have dubbed the “Ice Queen” and recover the land he foolishly gambled away—he agrees...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction historical industrial-era -
Sodom and Gomorrah by Marcel Proust
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 30 ratings'Flower and plant have no conscious will. They are shameless, exposing their genitals. And so in a sense are Proust's men and women . . . shameless. There is no question of right and wrong. Homosexuality . . . is as devoid of moral implications as the mode of fecundation of the Primula veris or the Lythrum salicoria...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book classics -
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Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSummer 1960:After years of scraping by, Caleb Murphy has graduated from college and is finally getting to start a new life. Except he suddenly has no way to get from Boston to Los Angeles. Then, to add to his misery, there's perfect, privileged Peter Cabot offering to drive him... -
The Girl on the Doorstep: from the bestselling author of The Workhouse Children (A Black Country Novel) by Lindsey Hutchinson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLeft an orphan, five-year-old Rosie Harris is found and raised by Maria, a Romany gypsy. Life on the road is hard, but the little girl soon feels one of the tribe with the travellers. As she grows older, Rosie realises she has 'second sight' and is able to read people's palms and see into their futures...Categorized as:
humor historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century holidays epic -
Lady Lilias and the Devil in Plaid by Julie Johnstone
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFree-spirited Lilias Honeyfield has a secret. She’s certain the rich and powerful Duke of Greybourne is meant to be hers. He just needs to reappear in her life and stop denying his love for her before she’s forced to wed another... -
The Rose Stone by Teresa Crane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA dazzling jewel holds the key to a prosperous new life… or total ruin The Rose Stone. A diamond, gained through betrayal and blood, upon which the Rosenberg family's fortunes were founded and whose price is yet to be paid. Kiev, 1875: Josef Rosenberg narrowly escapes death from a Cossack raid, rescuing Tanya, the youngest daughter of his old friend Boris Anatov...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century family fiction epic -
Birthright by Patricia Dixon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA woman's quest to save her family's chateau in France brings danger, rivalry, and romance--and reveals a secret buried since World War II . . .1931, Chateau de Chevalier: Ophélie, La Duchesse de Bombelle, receives a love letter from her admirer Picasso along with a gift: a priceless painting. Nine years later, the Nazis invade France and steal countless works of art, including Ophélie's gift . -
The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEngland, 1941. Dedicated local vet Laura cares for the farm animals of the little village of Bramble Heath. But falling bombs aren’t the only danger as the war hits close to home…Despite everyone telling her it’s not a suitable career for a woman, Laura has worked hard to become a successful livestock vet... -
In the Shadow of Love by J.E. Leak
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe was prepared to lose her life. She was not prepared to lose her heart. Reporter Jenny Ryan didn’t believe in love at first sight. Until it happened to her. An encounter with a sultry nightclub singer led to a secret job at the Office of Strategic Services and an unlikely romance with the woman of her dreams.OSS agent Kathryn Hammond knows she doesn’t deserve love or happiness...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction romance audiobook historical wlw lesbian-mc -
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratingsCasey McQuiston meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this mid-century romdram about a scrappy reporter and a newspaper mogul's son--perfect for Newsies shippers. Nick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city's biggest newspapers. But the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can't let anyone into his life...Categorized as:
lgbtq historical-fiction mlm romance historical fiction friends-to-lovers found-family -
Lady Guinevere And The Rogue With A Brogue by Julie Johnstone
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLady Guinevere Darlington has spent the last five years trying to forget the beautiful rogue who stole her heart and then crushed it under his shiny black hessian...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book false-accusations -
We'll Meet Again by Lily Baxter
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt is April 1939 and unaware that the German war machine is advancing towards the Channel Islands, seventeen-year-old Meg Colivet and her sister are enjoying a holiday in Oxford with their aunt. Here Meg meets charismatic German undergraduate Rayner Weiss and the couple fall passionately in love... -
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Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere does David belong? David Kirke’s childhood is sheltered, his nature is gentle and peaceable; he is no hero of romance but a human being with faults and failings which lead him into trouble when he adventures into the world to seek his fortune... -
Katherine Wentworth by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA pretty, courageous young widow, faced with the task of bringing up three children and making her way alone in the world, is the appealing heroine of this touching love story executed with D.E. Stevenson's characteristic freshness and charm... -
RNWMP: Bride for Kendall by Kirsten Osbourne, Mail Order Mounties
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJoAnn Becker, a wealthy socialite from Ottawa, has devoted her life to music and teaching others. She is content with her unmarried status, still living at home with her parents. That is until one of her closest friends moves west to marry the Mountie of her dreams. Once her friend is gone, she feels a bit lost and confused... -
The Silver Ladies of London by Lesley Eames
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1920's London. Featuring four attractive heroines, a scandal, a secret and a silver Rolls Royce. This is a heart-warming story of friendship, loyalty, courage and love. Perfect for the fans of Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles...Categorized as:
humor historical-fiction literary-fiction romance sports 20th-century historical victorian -
Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom Stonewall Award winner Bill Konigsberg, a remarkable, funny, sexy, heartbreaking story of two teen boys finding each other in New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic.The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra. So begins Destination Unknown. It's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is... -
When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTucker Shaw’s When You Call My Name is a heartrending novel about two gay teens coming of age in New York City in 1990 at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Named "this summer's most powerful LGBTQ+ novel" by GAY TIMES, this book is perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Mary H. K. Choi.Film fanatic Adam is seventeen and being asked out on his first date—and the guy is cute... -
The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Taiwan, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter opens up a healing world for them both in an inspiring family saga about the comfort of food, untold histories, and indomitable mother love.Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction romance fiction mystery historical family audiobook -
Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom French literary talent and Prix Goncourt winner Jean-Baptiste Andrea, a “sprawling fresco and star-crossed love story” (The New York Times) following a dwarf and skilled sculptor as he recounts the moments in his life that inspired his mysteriously powerful masterpiece—perfect for readers of Martyr! and The Covenant of Water.In an Italian monastery, a sculptor named Mimo lays on his deathbed... -
Women & Children First by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe was the most magnificent ship ever built, yet on the eve of 14th April the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, leaving the lucky ones floating in wooden rowing boats, and the rest struggling for their lives in the icy water...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book drama family -
A Light in the Window by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBerlin, 1941: Margarete Rosenbaum is working as a housemaid for a senior Nazi officer when his house is bombed, leaving her the only survivor. But when she’s mistaken for his daughter in the aftermath of the blast, Margarete knows she can make a bid for freedom…Issued with temporary papers—and with the freedom of not being seen as Jewish—a few hours are all she needs to escape to relative safety... -
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The Immigrants by Howard Fast
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn a passionate, multigenerational novel set against the backdrop of San Francisco, the son of an Italian fisherman struggles from the rubble of the great earthquake to build a shipping empire. Reprint... -
Wingmen by Ensan Case
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsJack Hardigan's Hellcat fighter squadron blew the Japanese Zekes out of the blazing Pacific skies. But a more subtle kind of hell was brewing in his feelings for rookie pilot Fred Trusteau... -
Juliana by Vanda
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“An Absolutely Beautiful and Moving Novel!”--Philip Crawford, author of Mafia and the GaysReaders say, “I can’t wait for the next book in the series."She went looking for fame, and found her true self, instead.New York City, 1941. Alice “Al” Huffman and her childhood friends are fresh off the potato farms of Long Island and bound for Broadway...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book celebrity -
Betsy by Kirsten Osbourne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBetsy Sanders loves her life. She has a wonderful and often boisterous family. She has a job for a man who makes her a bit crazy, but it’s good honest work, and she makes a decent wage. When a new man starts working for the auction house, she feels immediately drawn to him. Charles Brooks has been left with the burden of four younger siblings to raise...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor romance christian historical western 20th-century spirituality -
Gertrude by Kirsten Osbourne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGertrude Sanders is completely devoted to her family and her job as the librarian of the Nowhere, Texas library. When a man starts parking his book wagon outside the library, she makes it her business to force him to leave town. It doesn’t take her long to discover that most of the people in town are happier to go to the book wagon than go to the library...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor christian western romance 20th-century historical spirituality -
Burning Season by Rachel Ember
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe year is 1972. Dylan Chase is nineteen, and most days he’s lucky enough to ride a tough bronc, have a beer with his friends, and maybe even sleep under the stars on his family’s third-generation cattle ranch. Dylan’s life would be perfect if it weren’t for his forbidden itch. An itch he’s only scratched once… with Bo, a hitchhiker he never thought he’d see again... -
Bless This House by Norah Lofts
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe fortunes of a beautiful Elizabethan house called Merravay, Built in Suffolk for a queen to sleep in then loved and hated through four centuries. Told in eight episodic narratives by a fascinating pageant of characters including -- a pirate, witch, bawd, rake, recluse, and lovers all of whom play a vital part in the house's history...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book classics early-modern fiction -
Alec by William di Canzio
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWilliam di Canzio's Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster's secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster's classic, published only after the author's death.Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond... -
The Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEvery New Year’s Eve since 1946, Nate Meyer has ventured alone to Times Square to listen for the ghostly church bells he and his long-lost wartime lover vowed to hear together. This year, however, his grandson Blaine is pushing Nate through the Manhattan streets, revealing his secrets to his silent, stroke-stricken grandfather...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction mlm 20th-century action-adventure adult angst -
The Valley Of Decision by Marcia Davenport
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the eve of World War II writer Marcia Davenport, best known for her biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, spent several years in Pittsburgh, her imagination caught by the drama of American industry. In 1942, Charles Scribner’s sons published her Pittsburgh novel, The Valley of Decision... -
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RNWMP: Bride for Theodore by Kirsten Osbourne, Mail Order Mounties
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJessica Sanderson knows what it means to love unconditionally. She has doted on the same man for over a decade, and she’s in her early twenties. When that man’s mother asks her to be her traveling companion, she gladly accepts. She doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life sitting in a bank, after all... -
While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter graduating from Fannie Farmer's School of Cookery in 1910, Charlotte Gregory is ready to stir things up. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to travel, lecture, and give cooking demonstrations on the very latest kitchen revolution--the gas stove--and certainly doesn't mind that the gas company has hired the handsome Lewis Mathis to perform at her lectures... -
The Carnivorous Lamb by Agustín Gómez Arcos, William Rodarmor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe latest in the Little Sister’s Classics series resurrecting gay and lesbian literary gems: a viciously funny, shocking yet ultimately moving 1975 novel, an allegory of Franco’s Spain, about a young gay man (the self-described “carnivorous lamb”) coming of age with a mother who despises him, a father who ignores him, and a brother who loves him... -
Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew York City, 1973Daniel Cabot doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his life. He’s lost faith in himself, his future, and maybe the world. The only things he knows that he cares about are the garden in the empty lot next to his crumbling East Village apartment building and his best friend.Alex Savchenko has always known that he’s…difficult. Prickly, maybe, if you’re feeling generous... -
The Secret Vow by Natalie Meg Evans
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKatya – young, beautiful and impoverished – arrives in Paris, hoping to begin a new life. She leaves behind a terrible secret, and her survival in this strange and beautiful new city depends on nobody ever discovering who – and what – she is...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction romance 20th-century historical fiction war military -
Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNew York, 1919. His career as a concert pianist ended by a war injury, Sutton Albright returns to college, only to be expelled after an affair with a teacher. Unable to face his family, he heads to New York with no plans and little money–only a desire to call his life his own.Jack Bailey’s life has changed as well...
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