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Recommendations based on Plain Truthby Jodi Picoult
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Nineteen Minutes
by Jodi Picoult
A small town is rocked by a school shooting, examining lives of those involved and the aftermath.
The story begins on March 6, 2007 in the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire , tracking the lives of a number of characters on an "ordinary day." The characters include Alex Cormier, a superior ... (Wikipedia)
The Pact
by Jodi Picoult
A tragic story of teenage friends struggling with a tragic lapse in judgment.
In the fall of 1979, the Golds, consisting of a recently pregnant Melanie Gold and her husband Michael Gold, moved into the small town of Bainbridge, New Hampshire . They moved in next door to the ... (Wikipedia)
Handle with Care
by Jodi Picoult
A story of a family struggling with difficult decisions, facing tough truths about life.
The story follows the life of a young girl, Willow O'Keefe, and her family. Willow has Type III osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a disease also known as brittle bone syndrome. To her parents, Sean and ... (Wikipedia)
Certain Girls
by Jennifer Weiner
A young woman's personal journey of self-discovery and familial acceptance.
Readers fell in love with Cannie Shapiro, the smart, sharp-tongued, bighearted heroine of Good in Bed who found her happy ending after her mother came out of the closet, her father fell out of her ... (Goodreads)
The Lucky One
by Nicholas Sparks
A Marine finds a photograph of a woman while on duty in Iraq and sets out to find her. They fall in love, but secrets threaten their happiness.
The book starts from Keith Clayton's perspective. Keith is a local police officer. He is at a location where local college students go for nude swimming. He is carrying a camera he borrowed from the ... (Wikipedia)
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
A historical fiction recounting the rivalry between two sisters vying for the love of King Henry VIII.
In 1521 England, Queen Catherine of Aragon's failure to provide King Henry VIII a male heir has strained their marriage. Thomas Boleyn and his brother-in-law Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, plan ... (Wikipedia)
Midwives
by Chris Bohjalian
A midwife's journey of self-discovery, uncovering secrets of her own past.
The time is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont, for fifteen years. But one treacherous winter night, in a house isolated by icy roads ... (Goodreads)
Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
A woman's struggle to hold on to her identity in the face of a devastating diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience ... (Goodreads)
The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman
A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.
Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
A touching story of the intersection of love, family, and culture during World War II.
Henry Lee, the son of Chinese parents in Seattle , Washington, is the only Asian child at his elementary school. His father makes him wear an "I Am Chinese" button so he will not be mistaken for a ... (Wikipedia)
The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein
An uplifting story of a race car driver and the bond between humans and animals.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by ... (Goodreads)
Back Roads
by Tawni O'Dell
After his mother's imprisonment, a young man struggles to care for his three younger sisters in a small Pennsylvania town.
Harley Altmyer should be in college drinking beer and chasing girls. He should be freed from his stifling coal town with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead he's marooned in the ... (Wikipedia)
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes
by Diane Chamberlain
A young woman's journey to uncover her past, revealing secrets of her family history.
In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes ... (Goodreads)
Moloka'i
by Alan Brennert
A young Hawaiian girl is diagnosed with leprosy and sent to live in a settlement on Moloka'i, where she learns to survive and thrive.
This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place—-and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. ... (Barnes & Noble)
Love Anthony
by Lisa Genova
A woman's journey of grief and hope, as she discovers the power of unconditional love.
From bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova—whose novel Still Alice is now an Academy Award-winning film starring Julianne Moore—comes a novel about autism, friendship, and unconditional ... (Barnes & Noble)
Inside the O'Briens
by Lisa Genova
A family's battle against Huntington's Disease, discovering strength in the face of tragedy.
Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and ... (Goodreads)
The Street Lawyer
by John Grisham
A successful lawyer's life changes when he is held hostage by a homeless man. He becomes a street lawyer, fighting for justice for the underprivileged.
A homeless man, identifying himself only as "Mister," enters the offices of the powerful Washington D.C. law firm Drake & Sweeney and takes many of the lawyers hostage while angrily demanding ... (Wikipedia)
What Alice Forgot
by Liane Moriarty
A woman wakes up with amnesia and must reconstruct her life, rediscovering truths hidden in her past.
FROM THE #1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF, THE HUSBAND'S SECRET, AND, BIG LITTLE LIES,. A “cheerfully engaging”(,Kirkus Reviews,) novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Pilot's Wife
by Anita Shreve
A woman's journey of overcoming personal tragedy to find strength and courage.
The novel is about Kathryn Lyons, whose husband, Jack Lyons, dies in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Malin Head , Ireland. As she and her daughter Mattie try to cope with this ... (Wikipedia)
Good in Bed
by Jennifer Weiner
A story of finding identity, redemption, and self-love in spite of life's challenges.
Candace (Cannie) Shapiro is a smart, sarcastic, and successful entertainment journalist living in Philadelphia . Although she has a small group of close friends, including her best friend Samantha, ... (Wikipedia)
A Dog's Purpose
by W. Bruce Cameron
A dog's journey to discovering its true purpose, through multiple lifetimes and owners.
The narrator first starts out as a feral Beagle / German Shepherd / terrier mix puppy. A few weeks later, after being nursed by their mother, a feral as well, the dog and his siblings Fast, Sister, ... (Wikipedia)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
Story of two women in 19th-century China, exploring the power of female friendship.
In rural Hunan province called Puwei (nicknamed the Common Beauty Village), a county in China, Lily is destined to become a, laotong, pair with Snow Flower, a girl of the same age from Tongkou (the ... (Wikipedia)
The Pelican Brief
by John Grisham
A law student's investigation into a political assassination, uncovering a deadly conspiracy.
The story begins with the assassinations of two ideologically divergent Supreme Court Justices. Both murders are committed by Khamel, the most wanted hitman in the world. Justice Rosenberg, a ... (Wikipedia)
Pope Joan
by Donna Woolfolk Cross
A story of a female Pope's rise to power in a male-dominated world.
Joan, the daughter of a priest and his Saxon wife, is born in 814 as the last of three children. When he discovers that Joan has learned to read, her father calls her “child of the devil” and blames ... (Wikipedia)
A Bend in the Road
by Nicholas Sparks
A story of redemption and healing, as a man and woman find a way to move past their shared tragedy.
Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife Missy was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina , he not only grieves for her and worries ... (Wikipedia)
The Virgin's Lover
by Philippa Gregory
Historical fiction about the turbulent relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley.
The book opens in the autumn of 1558, just after the death of Mary I, and bells are heralding the fact that Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, is now queen. The book is told from four main perspectives: ... (Wikipedia)
Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See
Two sisters navigate the turmoil of 1930s Shanghai, while struggling to protect each other.
Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. In, On Gold Mountain, she objectively ... (Wikipedia)
Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
A Nigerian refugee's quest for survival and a British woman's search for redemption.
Using alternating first-person perspectives , the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey . After spending two years ... (Wikipedia)
The Mermaid Chair
by Sue Monk Kidd
A married woman returns to her childhood home and falls in love with a Benedictine monk. She must confront her past and make a difficult choice.
An alternate cover edition exists, here,. Sue Monk Kidd's phenomenal debut, The Secret Life of Bees , became a runaway bestseller that is still on the New York Times bestseller list more than two ... (Goodreads)
