Recommendations based on A Land More Kind Than Homeby Wiley Cash

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

  1. The Son

    by Philipp Meyer
    Epic multigenerational saga of a Texas family, their rise to power, and the violent legacy they leave behind.

    In 1849 thirteen year old Eli McCullough's family is attacked by the Comanches. The attack results in the rape and murder of his sister and mother. Eli and his older brother are kidnapped. While ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

    by Tom Franklin
    A haunting tale of two childhood friends, one accused of murder, and the secrets that bind them together.

    Tom Franklin's extraordinary talent has been hailed by the leading lights of contemporary literature—Philip Roth, Richard Ford, Lee Smith, and Dennis Lebanese. Reviewers have called his fiction ... (Goodreads)

  3. Benediction

    by Kent Haruf
    A story of compassion and redemption in a small Colorado town.

    When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife must work together, along with their daughter, to make his final days as comfortable as possible, despite the bitter absence of their ... (Goodreads)

  4. Iron Lake

    by William Kent Krueger
    A small town detective investigates a mysterious murder, uncovering hidden secrets.

    Part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian, Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota. Embittered by his "former" status, and the marital meltdown that has separated him from his ... (Goodreads)

  5. Before We Were Yours

    by Lisa Wingate
    Family torn apart is reunited across generations, revealing a powerful tale of resilience and hope.

    Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the ... (Goodreads)

  6. 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)

  7. Serena

    by Ron Rash
    Newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton build a timber empire in 1929 North Carolina, but their ruthless ambition leads to tragedy.

    The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. George has already lived in the camp long ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Did You Ever Have a Family

    by Bill Clegg
    A tragic event shatters a woman's life, forcing her to leave her hometown and confront her past. A story of grief, loss, and redemption.

    The novel focuses on June Reid, a beautiful, rich Connecticut woman. On the night before her daughter’s wedding, June Reid loses her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Year of Wonders

    by Geraldine Brooks
    A small English village grapples with the effects of the bubonic plague.

    When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Silver Star

    by Jeannette Walls
    Two sisters embark on an epic journey across the U.S. in search of their long-lost mother.

    It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to ... (Goodreads)

  11. Winter's Bone

    by Daniel Woodrell
    A teenage girl's struggle to save her family from poverty and despair in the rural Ozarks.

    In the rural Ozarks of Missouri , seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly looks after her mentally ill mother, twelve-year-old brother Sonny, and six-year-old sister Ashlee. She makes sure her siblings eat and ... (Wikipedia)

  12. 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)

  13. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

    by Jonathan Evison
    A man becomes a caregiver for a disabled teenager and embarks on a road trip, discovering the true meaning of life and friendship.

    The book (and adapted film) follow a 39 year old man who has experienced personal tragedy and is currently climbing out of depression and grief. His estranged wife has been waiting for months for him ... (Wikipedia)

  14. 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)

  15. In the Blood

    by Lisa Unger
    A woman's search for her missing daughter leads her to confront her own dark past and family secrets.

    The masterful psychological thriller by, New York Times, bestselling author Lisa Unger—“good, scary fun” (,The Washington Post,).,Lana Granger lives a life of lies. She has told so many lies about ... (Barnes & Noble)

  16. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

    by Stephen King
    A collection of short stories exploring the dark corners of the human mind.

    A master storyteller at his best—the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, ... (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. The Fixer Upper

    by Mary Kay Andrews
    After a messy divorce, Dempsey moves to a small town and renovates a historic house, uncovering secrets and finding love.

    The delightful, New York Times, bestselling author returns with a hilarious novel about one woman's quest to fix up her house . . . and her life , , After a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist ... (Goodreads)

  19. Faith

    by Jennifer Haigh
    A family's faith is tested when a priest is accused of sexual abuse. The novel explores the complexities of belief, loyalty, and forgiveness.

    "[Haigh is] an expertnatural storyteller with an acute sense of her characters' humanity." — NewYork Times "We have the intriguing possibility that the next great American author is already in ... (Barnes & Noble)

  20. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

    by Flannery O'Connor
    A collection of short stories exploring the human condition, from the comic to the grotesque.

    This now classic book revealed Flannery O'Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South. Her apocalyptic vision of life is expressed through grotesque, often ... (Goodreads)

  21. Mystic River

    by Dennis Lehane
    Three childhood friends are reunited by a tragedy that exposes their dark past and tests their loyalty.

    The novel revolves around three boys who grow up as friends in Boston — Dave Boyle, Sean Devine, and Jimmy Marcus. When the story opens, Dave is abducted by child molesters while he, Sean, and Jimmy ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Our Souls at Night

    by Kent Haruf
    An elderly couple's exploration of love, loneliness, and companionship.

    A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future. In ... (Goodreads)

  23. In Plain Sight

    by C.J. Box
    Game warden Joe Pickett investigates the murder of a prominent environmentalist, uncovering a web of corruption and danger in his small Wyoming town.

    Spring has finally come to Saddlestring, Wyoming, and game warden Joe Pickett is relieved the long, harsh winter is over. However, a dark cloud threatens to spoil the milder weather. Local ranch ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Snow Child

    by Eowyn Ivey
    A couple's dream of a child comes true in the Alaskan wilderness, but with unexpected consequences.

    Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart–he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she ... (Goodreads)

  25. Nightwoods

    by Charles Frazier
    A woman is tasked with raising her deceased sister's twins in a secluded mountain cabin, where she confronts her own troubled past and dangerous present.

    The extraordinary author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons returns with a dazzling new novel of suspense and love set in small-town North Carolina in the early 1960s. Charles Frazier puts his ... (Goodreads)

  26. 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)

  27. Lethal

    by Sandra Brown
    Unsuspecting woman discovers her husband's dark past, and must save her family from a dangerous criminal.

    When her four year old daughter informs her a sick man is in their yard, Honor Gillette rushes out to help him. But that "sick" man turns out to be Lee Coburn, the man accused of murdering seven ... (Goodreads)

  28. Shoot the Moon

    by Billie Letts
    An exploration of family dynamics when a husband and wife are forced to confront their issues.

    From one of America's best-loved storytellers - the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller WHERE THE HEART IS - comes a tale of a small Oklahoma town and the mystery that has haunted its ... (Goodreads)

  29. Angle of Repose

    by Wallace Stegner
    A man's search for his ancestors and their stories, leading to a journey of self-discovery.

    Lyman Ward narrates a century after the fact. Lyman interprets the story at times and leaves gaps that he points out at other times. Some of the disappointments of his life, including his divorce, ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Stone Cold

    by C.J. Box
    A game warden investigates a murder in the Wyoming wilderness, uncovering a web of corruption and danger.

    The electrifying new Joe Pickett novel from the New York Times bestselling author. Everything about the man is a mystery: the massive ranch in the remote Black Hills of Wyoming that nobody ever ... (Goodreads)