Recommendations based on The Dry Grass of Augustby Anna Jean Mayhew

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

  1. Whistling Past the Graveyard

    by Susan Crandall
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery, overcoming challenges on a journey to be reunited with her family.

    The summer of 1963 begins like any other for nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Born to teenage parents in Mississippi, Starla is being raised by a strict paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear ... (Goodreads)

  2. And the Mountains Echoed

    by Khaled Hosseini
    Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.

    The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Kitchen House

    by Kathleen Grissom
    A young Irish girl is taken in by a plantation family in Virginia and becomes entangled in the lives of the slaves who work there.

    When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship ... (Goodreads)

  4. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

    by Fannie Flagg
    A woman discovers the truth about her family's past, unlocking a legacy of secrets.

    Poland, 1909 Stanislaw is determined to escape the Russians and follow his brother to America, a land where anything seems possible. Wisconsin, 1941 With all the men off to war, Fritzi and her ... (Goodreads)

  5. 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)

  6. 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)

  7. I'd Know You Anywhere

    by Laura Lippman
    A convicted killer contacts his victim from death row, forcing her to confront the past and question her own memories.

    A powerful and utterly riveting tale that skillfully moves between past and present to explore the lasting effects of crime on a victim's life that will leave readers racing to the final page,, I'd ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. The Soldier's Wife

    by Margaret Leroy
    A young woman in Guernsey during WWII falls in love with a German soldier and must navigate the dangers of war and societal expectations.

    As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her ... (Goodreads)

  9. Flight of the Sparrow

    by Amy Belding Brown
    Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan woman, is captured by Native Americans and must navigate a new way of life.

    She suspects that she has changed too much to ever fit easily into English society again. The wilderness has now become her home. She can interpret the cries of birds. She has seen vistas that have ... (Goodreads)

  10. Looking for Me

    by Beth Hoffman
    After her brother's disappearance, Teddi Overman leaves her hometown to pursue her passion for antiques. She discovers herself and uncovers family secrets along the way.

    A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman’s bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt , won admirers and acclaim with ... (Goodreads)

  11. Defending Jacob

    by William Landay
    A father must defend his son who is accused of murder, unraveling the truth of a complex crime.

    Andy Barber is an assistant district attorney in Newton , Massachusetts. He is investigating the murder of a 14-year-old boy, Ben Rifkin, who was a classmate of his son Jacob and was found stabbed to ... (Wikipedia)

  12. The Death of Bees

    by Lisa O'Donnell
    A teenage girl and her young brother struggle to survive after their parents' mysterious disappearance.

    After Marnie discovers the dead bodies of her parents, she and her sister decide against reporting the deaths to the police and instead bury their bodies. Reporting the death would mean social ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House

    by Kathleen Grissom
    A slave's story of freedom and its unexpected complications.

    The latest New York Times bestseller from the author of the beloved book club favorite The Kitchen House is a heart racing story about a man’s treacherous journey through the twists and turns of the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. 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)

  15. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

    by Kim Michele Richardson
    A young woman, Cussy, delivers books to the rural people of Kentucky during the Great Depression, facing discrimination and finding solace in her blue skin.

    In 1936 eastern Kentucky, 19-year-old Cussy Mary Carter works for the New Deal–funded Pack Horse Library Project , delivering reading material to the remote hill people of the Appalachian Mountains . ... (Wikipedia)

  16. 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)

  17. The Next Always

    by Nora Roberts
    Romance blooms between two people in a small town, as their lives intertwine.

    The historic hotel in Boonsboro has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it’s getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. Beckett ... (Goodreads)

  18. Calling Me Home

    by Julie Kibler
    An interracial friendship between two women, challenged by the realities of racial prejudice.

    Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship. Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Perfume Collector

    by Kathleen Tessaro
    A woman discovers secrets of her past, uncovers forgotten memories.

    A remarkable novel about secrets, desire, memory, passion, and possibility. Newlywed Grace Monroe doesn’t fit anyone’s expectations of a successful 1950s London socialite, least of all her own. When ... (Barnes & Noble)

  20. To The Bright Edge of the World

    by Eowyn Ivey
    Adventurers explore the uncharted reaches of 19th century Alaska, uncovering secrets of the land.

    An atmospheric, transporting tale of adventure, love, and survival from the bestselling author of, The Snow Child, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize . In the winter of 1885, decorated war hero Colonel ... (Barnes & Noble)

  21. Beneath a Scarlet Sky

    by Mark T. Sullivan
    True story of a young Italian man's courage and heroism during WWII.

    Based on the true story of a forgotten hero,, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours., Pino ... (Goodreads)

  22. Orphan Train

    by Christina Baker Kline
    A story of two women's intertwined lives, spanning generations and crossing continents.

    The #1 New York Times Bestseller “A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of America’s history. Beautiful.”—Ann Packer Moving ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. Necessary Lies

    by Diane Chamberlain
    A young social worker in 1960s rural North Carolina uncovers a dark secret that threatens to upend the lives of those around her.

    It is 1960 in North Carolina and the lives of Ivy Hart and Jane Forrester couldn't be more different. Fifteen-year-old Ivy lives with her family as tenants on a small tobacco farm, but when her ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. The Peach Keeper

    by Sarah Addison Allen
    A woman returns to her small town to uncover secrets of her past, while a mysterious stranger holds the key to unlocking them.

    The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Lost Wife

    by Alyson Richman
    A love story set in WWII Prague, where a young couple is separated by war and reunited decades later.

    There on her forearm, next to a small brown birthmark, were six tattooed numbers. 'Do you remember me now?' he asked, trembling. She looked at him again, as if giving weight and bone to a ghost. ... (Goodreads)

  26. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

    by Beth Hoffman
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery, gaining strength and resilience in the face of adversity.

    Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and ... (Goodreads)

  27. Where the Heart Is

    by Billie Letts
    A journey of resilience and courage, as a young woman faces her struggles with poverty and hardship.

    This novel opens with Novalee and Willy Jack, her then boyfriend, traveling from Tennessee to California , where Willy Jack claims he was promised by his cousin, J. Paul, a job working at a train ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

    by Stephen King
    A man is wrongly convicted of murder and sent to Shawshank prison, where he befriends a fellow inmate and plans his escape.

    In 1947, in Maine , Andy Dufresne, a banker, is tried and convicted for the double murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. He is sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary to ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Broken Harbor

    by Tana French
    A detective investigates a murder case in a ghostly housing estate, uncovering a web of secrets.

    Mick “Scorcher" Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and thatʼs how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands. On one of the half-abandoned ... (Goodreads)

  30. Caleb's Crossing

    by Geraldine Brooks
    A historical novel based on the true story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665.

    A richly imagined new novel from the author of the, New York Times, bestseller,, People of the Book,. Once again, Geraldine Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life. In ... (Goodreads)