Recommendations based on Before You Know Kindnessby Chris Bohjalian

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

  1. The Double Bind

    by Chris Bohjalian
    A young woman working at a homeless shelter becomes obsessed with the photographs of a former client. A psychological thriller that explores the nature of memory and trauma.

    In Chris Bohjalian's astonishing novel, nothing is what it at first seems. Not the bucolic Vermont back roads college sophomore Laurel Estabrook likes to bike. Not the savage assault she suffers ... (Goodreads)

  2. Trans-Sister Radio

    by Chris Bohjalian
    A professor undergoes gender reassignment surgery, causing upheaval in her small town. Told from multiple perspectives.

    With Trans-Sister Radio , Chris Bohjalian, author of the bestseller Midwives , again confronts his very human characters with issues larger than themselves, here tackling the explosive issue of ... (Goodreads)

  3. Before the Fall

    by Noah Hawley
    A mysterious plane crash leads to a tangled web of secrets, lies, and betrayal.

    On a foggy summer night, eleven people—ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter—depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

    by Chris Bohjalian
    After a nuclear disaster, a teenage girl navigates a dangerous world alone, haunted by her past and struggling to survive.

    A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the best-selling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily ... (Goodreads)

  5. Nineteen Minutes

    by Jodi Picoult
    A small town is rocked by a school shooting, examining lives of those involved and the aftermath.

    The story begins on March 6, 2007 in the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire , tracking the lives of a number of characters on an "ordinary day." The characters include Alex Cormier, a superior ... (Wikipedia)

  6. 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)

  7. 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)

  8. A Thousand Acres

    by Jane Smiley
    A family's story of death and inheritance, exposing secrets of their past.

    Larry Cook is an aging farmer who decides to incorporate his farm, handing complete and joint ownership to his three daughters, Ginny, Rose, and Caroline. When the youngest daughter objects, she is ... (Wikipedia)

  9. 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)

  10. Stones from the River

    by Ursula Hegi
    A dwarf girl navigates life in a small German town during WWII, facing discrimination and secrets.

    Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780684844770 From the highly acclaimed, award-winning author of Floating in My Mother's Palm comes a stunning novel about ordinary people living in extraordinary ... (Goodreads)

  11. As You Like It

    by William Shakespeare
    A romantic comedy about love, disguise, and mistaken identity in the Forest of Arden.

    Readers and audiences have long greeted As You Like It with delight. Its characters are brilliant conversationalists, including the princesses Rosalind and Celia and their Fool, Touchstone. Soon ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Secret Keeper

    by Kate Morton
    A woman unravels her family's past, uncovering secrets and lies that span generations.

    During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a ... (Goodreads)

  13. Pigs in Heaven

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A young girl and her adoptive mother fight for their family's rights and the power of love.

    Mother and adopted daughter, Taylor and Turtle Greer, are back in this spellbinding sequel about family, heartbreak and love. Six-year-old Turtle Greer witnesses a freak accident at the Hoover Dam ... (Goodreads)

  14. Summer Nights

    by Susan Mallery
    A heartwarming story of two people finding love in a small town during summer.

    Horse whisperer Shane Stryker is done with passion. This time around, he's determined to meet someone who will be content with the quiet life of a rancher's wife. And the fiery, pint-size redhead who ... (Goodreads)

  15. Fool for Love

    by Marie Force
    A woman returns to her hometown and falls for her brother's best friend, but their pasts threaten to keep them apart.

    Sometimes you have to rock the boat . . ., , , Joe Cantrell, owner of the Gansett Island Ferry Company, has been in love with Janey McCarthy for as long as he can remember. And for just as long, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  16. Prodigal Summer

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    Three interconnected stories of nature, romance, and family in the Appalachian Mountains.

    Prodigal Summer tells the story of a small town in Appalachia during a single, humid summer, when three interweaving stories of love, loss and family unfold against the backdrop of the lush wildness ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Summer Days

    by Susan Mallery
    Three women navigate love and life in a small town during the summer. A heartwarming story of friendship, family, and second chances.

    Locked in an unexpected land dispute, Rafe Stryker is trapped in the one place he vowed never to return to—the Castle Ranch in Fool's Gold, California. He made millions facing ruthless adversaries in ... (Goodreads)

  18. Only Mine

    by Susan Mallery
    After a traumatic past, a woman finds love with a man who is willing to protect her at all costs.

    You can’t win if you don’t play… Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance ... (Goodreads)

  19. 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)

  20. The Pact

    by Jodi Picoult
    A tragic story of teenage friends struggling with a tragic lapse in judgment.

    In the fall of 1979, the Golds, consisting of a recently pregnant Melanie Gold and her husband Michael Gold, moved into the small town of Bainbridge, New Hampshire . They moved in next door to the ... (Wikipedia)

  21. 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)

  22. Very Valentine

    by Adriana Trigiani
    Valentine Roncalli navigates life and love while trying to save her family's shoe business. Set in New York City and Italy.

    The Angelini Shoe Company, one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village, has been making exquisite wedding shoes since 1903 but now teeters on the brink of financial collapse. To save ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. The Murderer's Daughters

    by Randy Susan Meyers
    Sisters struggle to cope with the aftermath of their father's murder and their mother's imprisonment.

    Lulu and Merry’s childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu’s tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He’s always hungered for the love of the girl’s self-obsessed ... (Goodreads)

  24. Until There Was You

    by Kristan Higgins
    A small-town girl returns home and falls for her high school crush, but he's engaged to her sister.

    Posey Osterhagen can't complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she's surrounded by her lovable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something's ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. Nine Women, One Dress

    by Jane L. Rosen
    A little black dress becomes the center of attention, weaving together the stories of nine women and their romantic adventures in New York City.

    A charming, hilarious, irresistible romp of a novel that brings together nine unrelated women, each touched by the same little black dress that weaves through their lives, bringing a little magic ... (Goodreads)

  26. Rise and Shine

    by Anna Quindlen
    A popular morning TV show host is fired after an on-air outburst, and her sister takes her in. The two must confront their past and present struggles.

    A superb novel about two sisters, the true meaning of success, and the qualities in life that matter most. From Anna Quindlen, acclaimed author of Blessings, Black and Blue, and One True Thing, a ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Map of Salt and Stars

    by Zeyn Joukhadar
    A young Syrian-American girl and her family flee to Syria, retracing the journey of a 12th-century girl who mapped the stars.

    It is the summer of 2011, and Nour has just lost her father to cancer. Her mother, a cartographer who creates unusual, hand-painted maps, decides to move Nour and her sisters from New York City back ... (Goodreads)

  28. Hope Never Dies

    by Andrew Shaffer
    Joe Biden and Barack Obama team up to solve a mystery involving a train conductor's suspicious death. A bromance-filled, comedic thriller.

    It's been several months since the 2016 presidential election, and "Uncle Joe" Biden is puttering around his house, grouting the tile in his master bathroom, feeling lost and adrift in an America ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Third Wife

    by Lisa Jewell
    A young woman marries a charming man with a dark past and becomes the third wife in a complicated family dynamic.

    Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jojo Moyes will be captivated by this riveting family drama with a dark mystery at its core, from the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone. In the early ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. Whitethorn Woods

    by Maeve Binchy
    A small Irish town is divided over the proposed construction of a highway that would destroy a beloved shrine in the nearby woods.

    The plot centers around a supposedly miraculous well dedicated to Saint Anne , mother of the Virgin Mary , located in a grotto overgrown with whitethorn bushes , in the woods next to an Irish town ... (Wikipedia)