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Recommendations based on Once a Runnerby John L. Parker Jr.
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Whistling Season
by Ivan Doig
A coming-of-age story set in rural Montana in 1909, following a family's struggles and triumphs during the homesteading era.
"Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver ... (Goodreads)
The Litigators
by John Grisham
Two small-time lawyers take on a big pharmaceutical company in a class-action lawsuit.
Oscar Finley and Wally Figg are ambulance chasers at a small law firm in the South Side of Chicago . , Their constant bickering is often mediated by Rochelle, their highly competent African-American ... (Wikipedia)
Prey
by Michael Crichton
A swarm of nanorobots designed to self-replicate and evolve escape from a lab, threatening humanity's existence.
The novel is narrated by the protagonist Jack Forman, an unemployed software programmer who used to work for a company called Media Tronics but was fired and blackballed for discovering an internal ... (Wikipedia)
A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
A coming-of-age story about two boys and their complex friendship set during World War II.
Gene Forrester returns to his old prep school, Devon (a thinly veiled portrayal of Knowles's alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy ), , 15 years after he graduated, to visit two places he regards as ... (Wikipedia)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.
It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Exploration of African culture and traditions, grappling with the tension between modernity and tradition.
The novel's protagonist , Okonkwo, is famous in the villages of Umuofia for being a wrestling champion, defeating a wrestler nicknamed "Amalinze The Cat" (because he never lands on his back). Okonkwo ... (Wikipedia)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
by Robert M. Pirsig
A philosophical exploration of the meaning of life, seen through the lens of a cross-country motorcycle journey.
Robert M. Pirsig's Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an examination of how we live, a meditation on how to live better set around the narration of a summer motorcycle trip across America's ... (Goodreads)
Rising Sun
by Michael Crichton
A murder mystery set in the world of Japanese business and politics, exploring cultural differences and corporate corruption.
Nakamoto Corporation is celebrating the grand opening of its new headquarters, the Nakamoto Tower, in Downtown Los Angeles ; the 45th floor of the building is awash with celebrities, dignitaries and ... (Wikipedia)
Sourdough
by Robin Sloan
A software engineer discovers the joy of baking sourdough bread and the mysterious origins of the starter.
Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two ... (Goodreads)
Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
A small-town hockey team and its community grapple with the consequences of a traumatic event.
Peter Andersson, in his forties, is the general manager of the ice hockey club in Beartown, a small town located somewhere in Sweden. Peter grew up in Beartown and was a junior hockey star. He went ... (Wikipedia)
Delicious!
by Ruth Reichl
A food critic's exploration of the culinary world, showcasing the beauty of gourmet food.
In her bestselling memoirs Ruth Reichl has long illuminated the theme of how food defines us, and never more so than in her dazzling fiction debut about sisters, family ties, and a young woman who ... (Goodreads)
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
Confronting the past and present, a woman struggles to reconcile her beliefs with those of her hometown.
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, a single 26-year-old, returns from New York to her hometown, Maycomb, Alabama, for her annual fortnight-long visit to her father Atticus, a lawyer and former state ... (Wikipedia)
The Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
A young boy's struggles to come to terms with the harsh realities of life in the rural south.
Young Jody Baxter lives with his parents, Ora and Ezra "Penny" Baxter, on a small farm in the animal-filled central Florida backwoods in the 1870s. His parents had six other children before him, but ... (Wikipedia)
My Year of Meats
by Ruth Ozeki
A journey of self-discovery as a Japanese-American woman investigates controversial issues in the US meat industry.
A cross-cultural tale of two women brought together by the intersections of television and industrial agriculture, fertility and motherhood, life and love—the breakout hit by the celebrated author ... (Goodreads)
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)
The Poet
by Michael Connelly
A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet's descent into darkness, as he unravels a web of deceit and murder.
Denver crime-beat reporter Jack McEvoy specializes in violent death. So when his homicide detective brother kills himself, McEvoy copes in the only way he knows how–he decides to write the story. But ... (Goodreads)
Endgame & Act Without Words
by Samuel Beckett
Two plays exploring the human condition through absurdist and existentialist lenses, showcasing the futility and meaninglessness of life.
Samuel Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature n 1969; his literary output of plays, novels, stories and poetry has earned him an uncontested place as one of the greatest writers of our ... (Goodreads)
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
A reverend's reflections on life in the Midwest, and the lessons of faith and family.
The book is an account of the memories and legacy of John Ames as he remembers his experiences of his father and grandfather to share with his son. All three men share a vocational lifestyle and ... (Wikipedia)
Nobody's Fool
by Richard Russo
Sully, a 60-year-old handyman, navigates life in a small town, dealing with family drama and personal struggles.
Richard Russo's slyly funny and moving novel follows the unexpected operation of grace in a deadbeat town in upstate New York—and in the life of one of its unluckiest citizens, Sully, who has been ... (Goodreads)
Deadeye Dick
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A darkly comic story of a man's quest for redemption from a tragic past.
The novel's main character, Rudy Waltz, nicknamed Deadeye Dick , commits accidental manslaughter as a child (he carelessly shoots a gun out of a window and fatally strikes a pregnant woman) and lives ... (Wikipedia)
A Farewell to Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
A story of unrequited love in the midst of war.
The novel is divided into five sections or 'books'. Frederic Henry is first person narrator of the story. Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American paramedic , is serving in the Italian Army . The novel ... (Wikipedia)
A Lesson Before Dying
by Ernest J. Gaines
A young black man is sentenced to death in the 1940s South, and a teacher helps him find dignity before his execution.
The story begins with the murder of Mr. Grope by two black men. An innocent bystander named Jefferson is charged with and convicted of the murder. He is sentenced to death. In his trial, Jefferson's ... (Wikipedia)
Sometimes a Great Notion
by Ken Kesey
A powerful story of a family's struggle against the odds and the forces of change.
The story centers on the Stamper family, a hard-headed logging clan in the coastal town of Wakonda, on the Oregon coast, in the early 1960s. The union loggers in Wakonda go on strike in demand of the ... (Wikipedia)
A River Runs Through it and Other Stories
by Norman Maclean
A series of stories about the life of a family and the relationship between two brothers.
Just as Norman Maclean writes at the end of "A River Runs through It" that he is "haunted by waters," so have readers been haunted by his novella. A retired English professor who began writing ... (Goodreads)
Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)
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)
Calico Joe
by John Grisham
A former professional baseball player confronts his past while his son faces a career-ending injury.
Author Grisham once dreamed of a career as a professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals . , This, his first baseball novel, is about a beanball that ends the career of a promising ... (Wikipedia)
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
A black man's journey towards self-actualization in a world of racial oppression.
The narrator, an unnamed black man, begins by describing his living conditions: an underground room wired with hundreds of electric lights, operated by power stolen from the city's electric grid. He ... (Wikipedia)
Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
A boy must learn to survive in the wilderness after a plane crash leaves him stranded.
Brian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels from Hampton, New York on a single engine Cessna bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in Northern Canada for ... (Wikipedia)
