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Recommendations based on East of the Mountainsby David Guterson
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
A murder trial in a small, coastal town reveals secrets of the past and its inhabitants.
Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954, the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American ... (Wikipedia)
The Shipping News
by Annie Proulx
A man's attempt to rebuild his life in a small Newfoundland town, discovering compassion and joy.
The story centers around Quoyle, a newspaper reporter from upstate New York , whose father had emigrated from Newfoundland . Shortly after his parents' joint suicide, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive ... (Wikipedia)
Empire Falls
by Richard Russo
A small town's citizens struggle to find meaning and find their place in a rapidly changing world.
Set in the decaying, nearly bankrupt, small town of Empire Falls, Maine, this is the story of the unassuming manager of the Empire Grill, Miles Roby, who has spent his life in the town. The town, and ... (Wikipedia)
The Bourne Ultimatum
by Robert Ludlum
Secret agent Jason Bourne on a mission to uncover the truth behind his life and identity.
The novel follows David Webb, alias Jason Bourne , as he works to find his old enemy, Carlos the Jackal , who is trying to kill him. As the Jackal enters old age and his infamy fades, he decides that ... (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)
Black and Blue
by Ian Rankin
Detective John Rebus investigates a mysterious death while navigating the police politics of Edinburgh.
Detective Inspector John Rebus is working on four cases at once trying to catch a killer he suspects of being the infamous Bible John . He has to do it while under an internal inquiry led by a man he ... (Wikipedia)
Cause of Death
by Patricia Cornwell
A medical examiner and her team investigate a series of murders connected to a mysterious virus.
It is New Year's Eve, the last day of Virginia's bloodiest year since the Civil War. Dr. Kay Scarpetta plunges into the murky depths of a ship graveyard to recover the very human remains of Ted ... (Goodreads)
Sarah's Quilt
by Nancy E. Turner
Sarah's journey continues as she navigates life on the frontier, facing challenges and finding love.
Sarah's Quilt, the long-awaited sequel to, These Is My Words, continues the dramatic story of Sarah Agnes Prine. Beloved by readers and book clubs from coast to coast,, These Is My Words, told the ... (Barnes & Noble)
Montana 1948
by Larry Watson
A young boy in rural Montana discovers the dark secrets of his family and town, leading to a moral dilemma.
When David's Native American housekeeper Marie Little Soldier falls ill, Frank Hayden, the local doctor and David's uncle, is called. Marie detests the use of a doctor and insists upon seeing another ... (Wikipedia)
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
by Julia Alvarez
Follows the lives of four sisters as they navigate their identities between two cultures.
The novel is written episodically and in reverse-chronological order. It consists of fifteen chapters in three parts: Part I (1989–1972), Part II (1970–1960), and Part III (1960–1956). Part I is ... (Wikipedia)
Divisadero
by Michael Ondaatje
A story of family, love, and loss, set in the 1970s California.
From the celebrated author of The English Patient and Anil's Ghost comes a remarkable, intimate novel of intersecting lives that ranges across continents and time. In the 1970s in Northern California ... (Goodreads)
Relic
by Douglas Preston
Scientists investigate an ancient secret, hidden deep in the South American jungle.
In September 1987, Dr. Julian Whittlesey is leading an expedition through the Amazon Basin , in the Brazilian rainforest , in search of the lost Kothoga tribe. He hopes to prove that they still do ... (Wikipedia)
All the Pretty Horses
by Cormac McCarthy
A young man's journey of adventure and self-discovery, as he travels from Texas to Mexico.
The novel tells of John Grady Cole, a 16-year-old who grew up on his grandfather's ranch in San Angelo , Texas . The boy was raised for a significant part of his youth, perhaps 15 of his 16 years, by ... (Wikipedia)
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
by Michael Dorris
A multi-generational story of three Native American women and their struggles with identity, family, and love.
Michael Dorris has crafted a fierce saga of three generations of Indian women, beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of kinship. Starting in the present ... (Goodreads)
These Happy Golden Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A young girl's journey of self-discovery as she moves through adulthood.
As the novel begins, Pa is taking Laura 12 miles from home in the dead of winter to her first teaching assignment at Brewster settlement. Laura being only 15 and a schoolgirl herself, is apprehensive ... (Wikipedia)
Straight Man
by Richard Russo
A university professor's humorous journey of self-discovery as he navigates campus politics.
William Henry Devereaux, Jr., spiritually suited to playing left field but forced by a bad hamstring to try first base, is the unlikely chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania ... (Goodreads)
The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
A collection of stories about the Vietnam War, interweaving the past and present.
In 1979, Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato —a novel about the Vietnam War—won the National Book Award. In this, his second work of fiction about Vietnam, O'Brien's unique artistic vision is again ... (Goodreads)
Killing Commendatore
by Haruki Murakami
A painter's surreal journey of self-discovery as he confronts his past, present and future.
The protagonist is an unnamed portrait painter whose wife leaves him at the start of the book. Devastated, he quits portrait painting and goes on a long road trip. In the middle of his road trip he ... (Wikipedia)
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink
A man's journey of understanding, uncovering a dark secret from his past.
Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of ... (Goodreads)
Dance Hall of the Dead
by Tony Hillerman
A Navajo tribal policeman investigates a murder on an Indian reservation.
Ernesto Cata is in training to play his role as Shulawitsi the Fire God in an upcoming Zuni religious ceremony. He sees a kachina that can be seen by the initiated, which he is not, or by those about ... (Wikipedia)
The Lords of Discipline
by Pat Conroy
A young man's struggle to survive the brutal hazing rituals of a Southern military college.
Will McLean, returning to the Carolina Military Institute in Charleston, South Carolina an unknown number of years after his graduation, tells the story of his life at the Institute. In 1966, Will ... (Wikipedia)
Jayber Crow
by Wendell Berry
An exploration of life and faith, set in a small Kentucky town.
"This is a book about Heaven," says Jayber Crow, "but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell." It is 1932 and he has returned to ... (Goodreads)
Peace Like a River
by Leif Enger
A young boy's journey of faith, hope, and courage in the midst of tragedy.
Once in a great while, we encounter a novel in our voluminous reading that begs to be read aloud. Leif Enger's debut, Peace Like a River , is one such work. His richly evocative novel, narrated by an ... (Goodreads)
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
by Sena Jeter Naslund
A woman's journey of self-discovery, defying society's expectations and finding her own path.
A magnificent, vast, and enthralling saga, Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife is a remarkable epic spanning a rich, eventful, and dramatic life. Inspired by a brief passage in Moby Dick , it is the ... (Goodreads)
People of the Book
by Geraldine Brooks
A journey through time as an ancient book is discovered and its secrets revealed.
The "complex and moving" ( The New Yorker ) novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war. Inspired by a true story, "People of the ... (Goodreads)
All the King's Men
by Robert Penn Warren
A powerful political drama that follows a governor's rise and fall as he grapples with ambition, morality and power.
All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his ... (Goodreads)
The Sportswriter
by Richard Ford
A sportswriter navigates through life after the death of his son, reflecting on his past relationships and current struggles.
As a sportswriter, Frank Bascombe makes his living studying people–men, mostly--who live entirely within themselves. This is a condition that Frank himself aspires to. But at thirty-eight, he suffers ... (Goodreads)
When the Wind Blows
by James Patterson
An ex-CIA agent is forced to go on the run when his past catches up to him.
The book centers on Frannie Devin O'Neill, a veterinarian , whose husband was killed three years before the story takes place. The action takes place in Bear Bluff, Colorado . She meets Kit Harrison, ... (Wikipedia)
State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett
A journey in the Amazon rainforest to find a missing colleague and unlock the secrets of a mysterious drug.
In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, "State of Wonder" presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional ... (Goodreads)
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)
