Recommendations based on The Front Runnerby Patricia Nell Warren

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Giovanni's Room

    by James Baldwin
    A man's struggle for identity and acceptance amidst a tumultuous romantic relationship.

    David, a young American man whose girlfriend has gone off to Spain to contemplate marriage, is left alone in Paris and begins an affair with an Italian man, Giovanni. The entire story is narrated by ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Tales of the City

    by Armistead Maupin
    A warm and comedic exploration of 1970s San Francisco and its colorful inhabitants.

    San Francisco, 1976. A naïve young secretary, fresh out of Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts ... (Goodreads)

  3. A Single Man

    by Christopher Isherwood
    A man's exploration of life after losing his partner, as he contemplates his own mortality.

    George, an English professor, is unable to cope with the despondent, bereaved nature of his existence after the sudden death of his partner, Jim. Throughout the day, he has various encounters with ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Maurice

    by E.M. Forster
    A young man's journey of self-discovery and acceptance of his sexuality.

    Maurice Hall, age fourteen, discusses sex and women with his prep-school teacher Ben Ducie just before Maurice progresses to his public school. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the novel, as ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Further Tales of the City

    by Armistead Maupin
    A series of witty and interconnected stories set in the vibrant city of San Francisco.

    The residents of 28 Barbary Lane are back again in this racy, suspenseful and wildly romantic sequel to Tales of the City and More Tales of the City. DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track ... (Goodreads)

  6. Call Me By Your Name

    by André Aciman
    A tender story of first love, exploring the complexities of identity, sexuality and desire.

    The narrator, Elio Perlman , recalls the events of the summer of about 1987, when he was seventeen and living with his parents in Italy . Each summer, his parents would take in a doctoral student as ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Babycakes

    by Armistead Maupin
    A young woman's journey to find her place in the world, navigating her sexuality and identity.

    The characters that filled the pages of the three earlier Tales of the City books with love and laughter are at it again, as an ordinary house-husband and his ambitious wife discover there's more to ... (Goodreads)

  8. Something Like Summer

    by Jay Bell
    A coming-of-age story of two boys who fall in love, but their relationship is tested by distance and time.

    The novel is written from a third person limited point of view, told through the eyes of the book's main character, Benjamin Bentley. It is divided into three separate sections based on the varying ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Rainbow Boys

    by Alex Sanchez
    Three high-school seniors learn to accept themselves and each other as they come to terms with their sexuality.

    The story follows the overlapping lives of three high school seniors, with the chapters alternating between their different points of view. Jason Carrillo, the popular jock, finds himself questioning ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Friends and Lovers

    by Eric Jerome Dickey
    A romantic comedy of two couples navigating the ups and downs of relationships.

    "Recommended....Dickey uses humor, poignancy and a fresh, creative writing style....The reader is hooked from the first sentence." —,USA Today, In this sexy, soulful tale of love, betrayal, and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  11. Blindness

    by José Saramago
    A society is plunged into chaos when everyone suddenly loses their sight.

    Blindness is the story of an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness afflicting nearly everyone in an unnamed city, and the social breakdown that swiftly follows. The novel follows the misfortune of a ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Hours

    by Michael Cunningham
    Interwoven stories of three women and the impact of Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs. Dalloway.

    Note: This Summary does not contain the whole book, nor end at the ending. The stream-of-consciousness style being so prominent in this work, a summary of the plot based on physical action does not ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

    by Peter Cameron
    A coming-of-age story of a teenage boy struggling to cope with change and life's struggles.

    James Sveck, 18, is an isolated young adult caught in the summer before he is to begin college at Brown University . The only person in his life with whom he is able to successfully relate is his ... (Wikipedia)

  14. A Christmas Memory

    by Truman Capote
    A nostalgic tale of childhood innocence, exploring the bittersweet joys of the holiday season.

    Narrated by an unnamed, seven-year-old boy who is referred to as "Buddy" by his older cousin, "A Christmas Memory" is about the narrator's relationship with his older, unnamed, female cousin, to whom ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Rubyfruit Jungle

    by Rita Mae Brown
    A coming-of-age story of a young girl's journey of self-acceptance and finding her place in the world.

    The novel focuses on Molly Bolt, the adopted daughter of a poor family, who possesses remarkable beauty and who is aware of her lesbianism from early childhood. Her relationship with her mother is ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Vampire Lestat

    by Anne Rice
    A vampire's exploration of his immortality and the secrets of the world of the undead.

    Set in the late 18th century to the late 1980s, the story follows the 200-year-long life of the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, and his rise from humble beginnings as impoverished nobility in the ... (Wikipedia)

  17. A Little Life

    by Hanya Yanagihara
    A powerful tale of four friends navigating life's hardships and the devastating effects of trauma.

    The novel follows the lives of four friends in New York City from college through to middle-age. It focuses particularly on Jude, a lawyer with a mysterious past, ambiguous ethnicity, and unexplained ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Last Days of Night

    by Graham Moore
    In 19th century New York City, a lawyer battles a powerful inventor in a fight over patents and the future of electricity.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER • ,“A world of invention and skulduggery, populated by the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla.”—Erik Larson, , ,“A model of superior historical fiction . . . an ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. Fall of Giants

    by Ken Follett
    Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.

    The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Kings Rising

    by C.S. Pacat
    A riveting finale to a captivating fantasy trilogy, where loyalty and ambition clash in a thrilling game of power.

    Damianos of Akielos has returned. His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill. On the brink of a momentous battle, ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Night Watch

    by Sarah Waters
    A suspenseful story of ordinary people living through the turmoil of World War II.

    Kay The novel begins with Kay Langrish-a woman broken by the war. She spends her days locked in her room in London, watching her landlord's patients arrive and leave at precisely the same hours every ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

    by Fannie Flagg
    A nostalgic tale of friendship, courage and resilience set in the American South.

    Throughout the novel the narrator and time period change, and the reader relies on the chapters' headings to establish the date and the source of the chapter. Some of the narration comes in the form ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Namesake

    by Jhumpa Lahiri
    A young Indian-American's journey of reconciling two different cultures and his own identity.

    The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, a young Bengali couple, leave Calcutta , India, and settle in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Ashoke is an engineering student at the ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Last Exit to Brooklyn

    by Hubert Selby Jr.
    A gritty, dark exploration of post-WWII life in Brooklyn and its inhabitants.

    Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and this Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Irvine Welsh, author of ... (Goodreads)

  25. Le Grand Meaulnes

    by Alain-Fournier
    A young man's journey of adventure, romance, and self-discovery.

    François Seurel, the 15-year-old narrator of the book, is the son of M. Seurel, who is the director of the mixed-ages school in a small village in the Sologne , a region of lakes and sandy forests in ... (Wikipedia)

  26. The Nix

    by Nathan Hill
    A middle-aged man's quest to discover the truth about his mother and his own identity.

    The Nix is an American epic novel in 10 parts that follows community college professor of English, Samuel Andresen-Anderson who is struggling to find meaning in his life in the years following his ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Secret History

    by Donna Tartt
    A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.

    Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Vast Fields of Ordinary

    by Nick Burd
    A coming-of-age story about a gay teenager in Iowa who falls in love with a boy from the city, while dealing with family issues and his own identity.

    It's Dade's last summer at home. He has a crappy job at Food World, a "boyfriend" who won't publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of ... (Goodreads)

  29. Fingersmith

    by Sarah Waters
    A thrilling tale of two women who conspire to swindle a wealthy gentleman.

    Sue Trinder, an orphan raised in "a Fagin -like den of thieves" by her adoptive mother, Mrs Sucksby, is sent to help Richard "Gentleman" Rivers seduce a wealthy heiress. Posing as a maid, Sue is to ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Angel's Game

    by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
    A writer's journey through a supernatural world of secrets and lies.

    The Angel's Game is set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s and follows a young writer, David Martin. In a once-abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, Martín makes his living by writing ... (Wikipedia)