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Recommendations based on Disappearing Earthby Julia Phillips
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
Two boys sentenced to a brutal reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida struggle to survive and maintain their humanity.
Author of The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in 1960s Florida. ... (Goodreads)
Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
A female-led story of crime, courage and sacrifice set in 1940s Brooklyn.
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea ... (Goodreads)
The Other Americans
by Laila Lalami
A Moroccan immigrant is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and the aftermath affects the lives of those around her.
From the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Moor's Account, here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant–at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and ... (Goodreads)
The Water Dancer
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A young slave with a mysterious power escapes from a plantation and embarks on a journey to rescue his loved ones.
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found, here, and, here,. Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was ... (Goodreads)
Euphoria
by Lily King
Three anthropologists in the 1930s study a tribe in New Guinea, leading to a complex love triangle and ethical dilemmas.
A New York Times Bestseller,Winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize,Winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction,A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award,A Best Book of the Year for:,, ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Dog Stars
by Peter Heller
A man struggles to survive in post-apocalyptic world, searching for a better life.
Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a ... (Goodreads)
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
An escaped slave's daring escape to freedom, fighting against the brutality of slavery.
The story is told in the third person, focusing mainly on Cora. Scattered single chapters also focus on Cora's mother Mabel, the slavecatcher Ridgeway, a reluctant slave sympathizer named Ethel, and ... (Wikipedia)
Idaho
by Emily Ruskovich
A haunting story of a family tragedy, told through the perspectives of different characters and across different timelines.
One hot August day a family drives to a mountain clearing to collect birch wood. Jenny, the mother, is in charge of lopping any small limbs off the logs with a hatchet. Wade, the father, does the ... (Goodreads)
The Lathe of Heaven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
An exploration of the power of dreams, with the potential to reshape reality.
The book is set in Portland, Oregon , in the year 2002. Portland has three million inhabitants and continuous rain. It is deprived enough for the poorer inhabitants to have kwashiorkor , a protein ... (Wikipedia)
Miracle Creek
by Angie Kim
A courtroom drama that explores the aftermath of a deadly explosion at a hyperbaric oxygen therapy center.
WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL, The “gripping… page-turner” (,Time,) hitting all the best of summer reading lists,, Miracle Creek, is perfect for book clubs and fans of Liane Moriarty ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Weight of Ink
by Rachel Kadish
A historian discovers a trove of 17th-century Jewish documents, leading her on a journey of discovery and self-discovery.
WINNER OF A NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD, A, USA TODAY, BESTSELLER, "A gifted writer, astonishingly adept at nuance, narration, and the politics of passion."—Toni Morrison Set in London of the 1660s ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Overstory
by Richard Powers
Nine strangers are brought together by their love for trees, leading to a fight to save the last of the remaining forests.
Nicholas Hoel, Mimi Ma, Adam Appich, Ray Brinkman, Dorothy Cazaly, Douglas Pavlicek, Neelay Mehta, Patricia Westerford, and Olivia Vandergriff are people who had unique relationships with trees which ... (Wikipedia)
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
A young man's journey of self-reflection and acceptance, confronting the truth of his traumatic past.
One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after seemingly committing an unforgiveable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the, The ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Leavers
by Lisa Ko
A story of the struggles and triumphs of two individuals navigating the complexities of immigration and identity.
Told in four parts, the novel begins as Deming Guo's mother Polly suddenly disappears from the family's New York City apartment without warning. Deming is placed into foster care , ultimately to be ... (Wikipedia)
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
by Madeleine Thien
A family saga spanning generations of musicians in China, exploring the impact of political upheaval on their lives and art.
The novel begins with a girl named Marie living with her mother in Vancouver , Canada. The year is 1991, and the addition to their household of a Chinese refugee fleeing the post-Tiananmen Square ... (Wikipedia)
4 3 2 1
by Paul Auster
An exploration of alternate realities, tracing the lives of four identical boys who go their own ways.
Nearly two weeks early, on March 3, 1947, in the maternity ward of Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Archibald Isaac Ferguson, the one and only child of Rose and Stanley Ferguson, is born. ... (Goodreads)
Moonglow
by Michael Chabon
A multigenerational family saga reflecting on the past to unlock secrets of the present.
The novel is about the story of the author's (Chabon) grandfather. Throughout the book, the grandfather's name is not referred to. The story is sort of a memoir, jumping around in time. It starts ... (Wikipedia)
Stoner
by John Williams
An academic's life of quiet desperation, finding solace in literature.
William Stoner is born on a small farm in 1891. After high school, the county agent advises he go to agriculture school. Stoner enrolls in the University of Missouri , where all agriculture students ... (Wikipedia)
Olive, Again
by Elizabeth Strout
A collection of interconnected stories about Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher in a small coastal town in Maine.
The iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but also the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss ... (Goodreads)
Faithful Place
by Tana French
A woman's search for the truth behind her childhood sweetheart's disappearance.
When 19-year-old Frank Mackey was left waiting outside of an abandoned house one fateful night, he believed that his lover backed out on their plans of elopement. After finding a note inside the ... (Wikipedia)
Rabbit, Run
by John Updike
A man's attempt to escape the pressures of adult life and find freedom.
Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, formerly a high school basketball star, is now 26, and has a job selling a kitchen gadget named MagiPeeler. He is married to Janice, who was a salesgirl at the store where he ... (Wikipedia)
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)
Severance
by Ling Ma
A millennial office worker navigates a post-apocalyptic world plagued by a deadly virus.
The narrative follows Candace Chen after societal collapse due to the Shen Fever pandemic and in flashbacks to her earlier life. Candace and her parents emigrate from Fuzhou , China to Salt Lake City ... (Wikipedia)
Fates and Furies
by Lauren Groff
A tale of the secrets and passions of a marriage, exploring the depths of private lives.
Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, ... (Goodreads)
The Heart's Invisible Furies
by John Boyne
A man's life journey spanning seven decades and three continents, searching for love and acceptance.
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast ... (Goodreads)
Less
by Andrew Sean Greer
A man's journey of self-discovery and coming to terms with his life choices.
PROBLEM: You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years now engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would all be ... (Goodreads)
This Tender Land
by William Kent Krueger
Four orphans escape a cruel boarding school and embark on a journey down the Mississippi River during the Great Depression.
INSTANT, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER! “If you liked, Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love, This Tender Land, ...This story is as big-hearted as they come.” —, Parade, The unforgettable story of four ... (Barnes & Noble)
Commonwealth
by Ann Patchett
Intertwining story of two families across multiple generations, and how their lives become intertwined.
It started at Franny Keating’s christening party. Bert Cousins wasn’t even invited, but looking for an excuse to get out of the house, away from his three noisy children and pregnant wife for a few ... (Wikipedia)
Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid
A young black babysitter is accused of kidnapping the white child she cares for, exposing the complexities of race and privilege in modern America.
A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her ... (Goodreads)
