Recommendations based on Gods in Alabamaby Joshilyn Jackson

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

  1. Between, Georgia

    by Joshilyn Jackson
    A small town is torn apart by a feud between two families, and a young girl caught in the middle must choose where her loyalties lie.

    Nonny Frett understands the meaning of the phrase "in between a rock and a hard place" better than any woman alive. She's got two mothers, "one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat ... (Goodreads)

  2. Backseat Saints

    by Joshilyn Jackson
    A woman flees her abusive husband and confronts her past, seeking redemption and a new life.

    Rose Mae Lolley's mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving Rose with a heap of old novels and a taste for dangerous men. Now, as demure Mrs. Ro Grandee, she's living the very life her mother ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

    by Joshilyn Jackson
    A young girl's death in a backyard pool leads to family secrets being uncovered.

    Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she's helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. Beloved

    by Toni Morrison
    A haunting story of loss and resilience in the aftermath of slavery.

    Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio , where the protagonist Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, has been living with her eighteen-year-old daughter Denver at 124 Bluestone Road. The book ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Graceling

    by Kristin Cashore
    Adventure story of a young girl who discovers her extraordinary abilities and the risks she must take to protect her kingdom.

    This book tells the story of Katsa, a young woman with a "Grace", or power, which enhances her survival skills and makes her a highly efficient killer. It takes place in a world where Gracelings, or ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  7. The Next Accident

    by Lisa Gardner
    A serial killer is on the loose, targeting young women. Detective D.D. Warren must race against time to catch the killer before he strikes again.

    FBI Agent Pierce Quincy is haunted by his daughter's death in a drunk-driving accident. Pierce knew about his daughter's problem with alcohol, and about her loneliness. And so, he is sure, did the ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Boleyn Inheritance

    by Philippa Gregory
    Courtly intrigue during the reign of Henry VIII, full of danger, secrets and betrayal.

    The book begins in 1539, after the death of King Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour . Henry is looking for a new wife and chooses Anne of Cleves , daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves , whom he ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

    by Chris Crutcher
    Eric and Sarah Byrnes, two outcasts, navigate high school and confront their traumatic pasts.

    Eric “Mobe” Calhoune's best friend Sarah Byrnes is catatonic , sitting in the mental ward of Sacred Heart Hospital. The staff there suggests that he recall some moments that may jog her memory and ... (Wikipedia)

  10. The Lace Reader

    by Brunonia Barry
    A woman unravels a centuries-old family legacy of lace reading, unlocking secrets of the past.

    Look into the lace... When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen... In this moment, an image will begin to ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Storyteller

    by Jodi Picoult
    A storyteller's quest to restore faith in the power of storytelling and to mend the wounds of her past.

    25-year-old Sage Singer lives in the small town of Westerbrook, New Hampshire . , A couple of years before the story began, Sage and her mother were in a car accident while Sage was driving. Sage's ... (Wikipedia)

  12. 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)

  13. The Bean Trees

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery and resilience as she takes on motherhood and a new life.

    Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she ... (Goodreads)

  14. 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)

  15. The Girl Who Chased the Moon

    by Sarah Addison Allen
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery, uncovering hidden family secrets in a small southern town.

    In her latest enchanting novel, New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different ... (Goodreads)

  16. A Mercy

    by Toni Morrison
    An exploration of the human condition and the consequences of slavery in America.

    In the 1680s the slave trade in the Americas is still in its infancy. Jacob Vaark is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a small holding in the harsh North. Despite his distaste for dealing in ... (Goodreads)

  17. Cutting for Stone

    by Abraham Verghese
    A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.

    The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Life After Life

    by Kate Atkinson
    A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.

    The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Lady of the Rivers

    by Philippa Gregory
    A sweeping historical novel about a powerful female's journey of self-discovery.

    Fourteen-year-old Jacquetta, whose noble family claims descendance from the water goddess Melusine , learns the secrets of her inherited powers from her great-aunt Jehanne , the Demoiselle of ... (Wikipedia)

  20. 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)

  21. She's Come Undone

    by Wally Lamb
    A young woman's trial-filled journey to self-acceptance and self-preservation.

    Dolores Price is heartbroken when her handsome, but irresponsible father, Tony, leaves their suburban home for another woman. She and her mother, Bernice, move into her uptight Catholic grandmother's ... (Wikipedia)

  22. I Know This Much Is True

    by Wally Lamb
    A man's journey of self-discovery, coming to terms with family trauma and understanding his identity.

    The novel takes place in Three Rivers, Connecticut in the early 1990s. Dominick Birdsey's identical twin , Thomas Birdsey, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia . With medication, Thomas is able to ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Birth of Venus

    by Sarah Dunant
    A passionate story of love and art set in 15th century Florence.

    Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family’s Florentine palazzo. ... (Goodreads)

  24. Practical Magic

    by Alice Hoffman
    Two sisters discover their magical powers, learning to use them responsibly.

    *25th Anniversary Edition*—with a New Introduction by the Author!,The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the, New York Times, bestselling author of, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. Daughter of the Forest

    by Juliet Marillier
    Sorcha, a young woman, must complete an impossible task to save her brothers from a curse. She faces danger, love, and sacrifice in ancient Ireland.

    Sorcha, the youngest child of Irish Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, loses her mother at childbirth, and is raised almost entirely by her six older brothers. She is more or less ignored by her father. When ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Landline

    by Rainbow Rowell
    A woman reconnects with her husband through a magical phone line, revisiting their pasts and reevaluating their present.

    In 2013 Georgie McCool, a 37-year-old sitcom writer, tells her husband Neal she will not be able to spend Christmas with his mother in Omaha, Nebraska , as she and her writing partner, Seth, have ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Into the Water

    by Paula Hawkins
    A gripping murder mystery, uncovering secrets hidden in a town's haunted past.

    Following the unexplained death of her sister, Nel, in a pool at the foot of a cliff, Jules Abbott returns to Beckford, a fictional town in Northumberland , to care for her niece, Lena. The novel is ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

    by Joe Hill
    A family's mysterious journey of unlocking supernatural secrets, discovering their destiny.

    This plot is presented in chronological order. During the American Revolution , a group of Rebels, hiding beneath the future Keyhouse, discover a portal to another dimension, the plains of Leng , ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Angelfall

    by Susan Ee
    An angel apocalypse and a teenage girl's fight for survival.

    It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Bonesetter's Daughter

    by Amy Tan
    A Chinese-American woman rediscovers her heritage, uncovering her family's deep past.

    Ruth is a self-sufficient woman who makes her living as a ghostwriter for self-help books . She lives with her boyfriend, Art Kamen, and acts as a stepmother to Art's two teenage daughters, Dory and ... (Wikipedia)