Book picks similar to
The Tyre by C.J. Dubois


fiction
literary-fiction
publisher-sent
multi-cultural

I'm Fine and Neither Are You


Camille Pagán - 2019
    Mother. Breadwinner. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is doing it all—and barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny Sweet, appears to be sailing through life. As close as the two women are, Jenny’s passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child stand in stark contrast to Penelope’s underemployed husband, Sanjay, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career.Then a shocking tragedy reveals that Jenny’s life is far from perfect. Reeling, Penelope vows to stop keeping the peace and finally deal with the issues in her relationship. So she and Sanjay agree to a radical proposal: both will write a list of changes they want each other to make—then commit to complete and total honesty.What seems like a smart idea quickly spirals out of control, revealing new rifts and even deeper secrets. As Penelope stares down the possible implosion of her marriage, she must ask herself: When it comes to love, is honesty really the best policy?

The Girl Who Could Read Hearts: A Family and the Power of Intuition


Sherry Maysonave - 2017
    "A moving, memorable story... a highly recommended, evocative read..." Set in the San Francisco Bay Area and inspired by a vivid dream with the author's deceased sister shouting from a mountain top, this intriguing novel blends autobiographical fact and narrative fiction straight from the author's heart. "Riveting." If you enjoy CS Lewis, Ann Voskamp, Eckhardt Tolle, Oprah, Judith Orloff, or mystical stories like The Shack, or The Alchemist, or The Celestine Prophecy, you'll be captivated. Kate Kindrick is born gifted with a 7th sense ─ the ability to read human hearts coupled with keen intuition. Kate struggles to understand her premonitions while surrounded by skeptical, sometimes cruel, family members and their secrets. Is Kate psychic? A medium? Simply intuitive? Empowered by Angels? The segments of this story that embrace death are drawn from Sherry's real-life experiences when she was present with beloved family members as they passed away. Her wondrous encounters of loved ones' spirits after their physical deaths are deeply engaging. This tantalizing novel percolates with subtle wisdom that is inspirational, transformational, and healing. "A breath of fresh, clean air..." "Intriguing characters" "... a page turner" Whether you believe in the supernatural, existence of souls, miracles, the power of prayer, angels, heaven, or not, this thought-provoking book explores issues relevant to many of today's societal woes: prejudice, abuse, eating disorders, and limiting belief systems. It delves into the mysteries of death and of angels, intuition, finding God in all, and true love. Full of spirit, it brims with inspiration, daring, hope, and the importance of following our dreams. "This book is phenomenal. If you are someone who is intuitive, this is the book for you... I couldn't put this book down... one I will read again and again." ─ Anna Blackard, 5-stars, Amazon Reviewer ─ WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO, OR DON'T, LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION, YOUR HEART? ─ "Truly a page-turner, engaging the reader from the first page until the last." ─ Deborah Lloyd, 5-Stars, Readers' Favorite Reviewer, International Gold Medal "This book weaves spiritual,mystical, and experiential themes into the most compelling family storyline ever..." ─ Dr. John Horn, Retired Superintendent, Mesquite ISD Gold Medal ─ 2017 Readers' Favorite International Award ─ Fiction, Christian 1st Place ─ 2018 The Paris Book Festival ─ Fiction, Spiritual 1st Place ─ 2018 The Great Northwest Book Festival ─ Fiction, Spiritual 1st Place ─ 2017 Texas Association of Authors Award ─ Fiction,Inspirational 1st Place ─ 2018 The Great Southeast Book Festival ─ Fiction, Spiritual Best Book ─ 2016 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award ─ Fiction,Inspirational Award Winner ─ 2018 The Great Southwest Book Festival ─ Fiction Spiritual Gold Medal ─ 2016 Beverly Hills Book Awards ─ Fiction,Religion Award Winner ─ 2016 London Book Festival ─ Fiction, Spiritual /Religious Finalist ─ 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award ─ Fiction,Spiritual Award Winner ─ 2016 Great Midwest Book Festival ─ Fiction,Spiritual Finalist ─ 2017 Bookvana Life. Spirit. Knowledge.

A Little Hope


Ethan Joella - 2021
    But when Greg is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, the sense of certainty they once knew evaporates. Throughout their town, friends and neighbors face the most difficult of life’s challenges and are figuring out how to survive thanks to love, grace, and hope. “A quietly powerful portrait of small-town life…told with wisdom and tenderness” (Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes) A Little Hope is a deeply resonant debut that immerses the reader in a community and celebrates the importance of small moments of connection.

Sister of My Heart


Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - 1999
    Sudha is as beautiful, tenderhearted, and serious as Anju is plain, whip-smart, and defiant. yet since the day they were born, Sudha and Anju have been bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend.The cousins' bond is shattered, however, when Sudha learns a dark family secret. Urged into arranged marriages, their lives take sudden, opposite turns: Sudha becomes the dutiful daughter-in-law of a rigid small-town household, while Anju goes to America with her new husband and learns to live her own life of secrets. Then tragedy strikes them both, and the women discover that, despite the distance that has grown between them, they have only each other to turn to. Set in the two worlds of India and America, this is an exceptionally moving novel of love, friendship, and compelling courage.

Butterflies in May


Karen Hart - 2006
    Her Mr. Perfect boyfriend, Matt Ryan, is a talented artist who hopes to attend Pratt Institute in New York, and Ali plans to major in journalism at a prestigious college. Both Ali and Matt are outstanding students. Their future possibilities seem endless. Then the inconceivable happens Ali becomes pregnant. Suddenly, her entire world shifts. Everything she was sure of changes. What should she do about this baby, about Matt, about her life? Ali is faced with the dilemma of responsibility and choice. She's supported by a fun, loyal best friend, Monica, but Ali knows that now, nothing will ever be the same again. She's abruptly and unwillingly forced into the world of adulthood as she faces the crisis of being a pregnant, unwed teenager."

Ladivine


Marie NDiaye - 2013
    Just as Clarisse’s husband and daughter know nothing of Ladivine, Clarisse herself has hidden nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman, whom she dreads and despises but also pities. Long ago abandoned by Clarisse’s father, Ladivine works as a housecleaner and has no one but her daughter, whom she knows as Malinka. After more than twenty-five years of this deception, the idyllic middle-class existence Clarisse has built from scratch can no longer survive inside the walls she’s put up to protect it. Her untold anguish leaves her cold and guarded, her loved ones forever trapped outside, looking in. When her husband, Richard, finally leaves her, Clarisse finds comfort in the embrace of a volatile local man, Freddy Moliger. With Freddy, she finally feels reconciled to, or at least at ease with, her true self. But this peace comes at a terrible price. Clarisse will be brutally murdered, and it will be left to her now-grown daughter, who also bears the name Ladivine without knowing why, to work out who her mother was and what happened to her.A mesmerizing and heart-stopping psychological tale of a trauma that ensnares three generations of women, Ladivine proves Marie NDiaye to be one of Europe’s great storytellers.

How Beautiful We Were


Imbolo MbueImbolo Mbue - 2021
    Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle would last for decades and come at a steep price. Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom."The unforgettable story of a community on the wrong end of Western greed, How Beautiful We Were will enthrall you, appall you, and show you what is possible when a few people stand up and say this is not right. A masterful novel by a spellbinding writer engaged with the most urgent questions of our day.”—David Ebershoff, bestselling author of The Danish Girl

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler


Kelly Harms - 2019
    So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and—with a little encouragement from her friends—a few blind dates. When one man in particular makes quick work of Amy’s heart, she risks losing herself completely in the unexpected escape, and as the summer comes to an end, Amy realizes too late that she must make an impossible decision: stay in this exciting new chapter of her life, or return to the life she left behind.But before she can choose, a crisis forces the two worlds together, and Amy must stare down a future where she could lose both sides of herself, and every dream she’s ever nurtured, in the beat of a heart.

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell


Robert Dugoni - 2018
    Born with red pupils, he was called “Devil Boy” or Sam “Hell” by his classmates; “God’s will” is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother’s devout faith, his father’s practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.Sam believed it was God who sent Ernie Cantwell, the only African American kid in his class, to be the friend he so desperately needed. And that it was God’s idea for Mickie Kennedy to storm into Our Lady of Mercy like a tornado, uprooting every rule Sam had been taught about boys and girls.Forty years later, Sam, a small-town eye doctor, is no longer certain anything was by design—especially not the tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he’d always known. Running from the pain, eyes closed, served little purpose. Now, as he looks back on his life, Sam embarks on a journey that will take him halfway around the world. This time, his eyes are wide open—bringing into clear view what changed him, defined him, and made him so afraid, until he can finally see what truly matters.

Clock Dance


Anne Tyler - 2018
    At each of these moments, Willa ended up on a path laid out for her by others.So when she receives a phone call telling her that her son’s ex-girlfriend has been shot and needs her help, she drops everything and flies across the country. The spur-of-the-moment decision to look after this woman – and her nine-year-old daughter, and her dog – will lead Willa into uncharted territory. Surrounded by new and surprising neighbours, she is plunged into the rituals that make a community and takes pleasure in the most unexpected things.A bittersweet novel of hope and regret, fulfillment and renewal, Clock Dance brings us the everyday life of a woman who decides it’s never too late to change direction, and choose your own path.

If Only I Could Tell You


Hannah Beckerman - 2019
    Her two grown-up daughters, Jess and Lily, are estranged, and her two teenage granddaughters have never been allowed to meet. A secret that echoes back thirty years has splintered the family in two, but is also the one thing keeping them connected.As tensions reach breaking point, the irrevocable choice that one of them made all those years ago is about to surface. After years of secrets and silence, how can one broken family find their way back to each other?

When I'm Gone


Emily Bleeker - 2016
    I didn’t want to leave you... Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there’s something he’s not prepared for—a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie’s handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.The letter inside, written on the first day of Natalie’s cancer treatment a year ago, turns out to be the first of many. Luke is convinced they’re genuine, but who is delivering them? As his obsession with the letters grows, Luke uncovers long-buried secrets that make him question everything he knew about his wife and their family. But the revelations also point the way toward a future where love goes on—in written words, in memories, and in the promises it’s never too late to keep.

True Places


Sonja Yoerg - 2019
    As Suzanne rushes her to the hospital, she never imagines how the encounter will change her—a change she both fears and desperately needs.Suzanne has the perfect house, a successful husband, and a thriving family. But beneath the veneer of an ideal life, her daughter is rebelling, her son is withdrawing, her husband is oblivious to it all, and Suzanne is increasingly unsure of her place in the world. After her discovery of the ethereal sixteen-year-old who has never experienced civilization, Suzanne is compelled to invite Iris into her family’s life and all its apparent privileges.But Iris has an independence, a love of solitude, and a discomfort with materialism that contrasts with everything the Blakemores stand for—qualities that awaken in Suzanne first a fascination, then a longing. Now Suzanne can’t help but wonder: Is she destined to save Iris, or is Iris the one who will save her?

Corkscrew: The highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer


Peter Stafford-Bow - 2016
    Thanks to a positive mental attitude, he is soon forging a promising career, his sensual adventures taking him to the vineyards of Italy, South Africa, Bulgaria and Kent. His path to the summit is littered with obstacles, however. Petty office politics, psychotic managers and the British Board of Wine & Liquor prove challenging enough. But when Felix negotiates the world’s biggest Asti Spumante deal, he bites off more than he can chew and is plunged into a terrifying world of Mafiosi, people smuggling and ruthless multinationals.Part thriller, part self-help manual and part drinking companion, Corkscrew is a coruscating critique of neo-liberal capitalism, religious intolerance and the perils of blind tasting.

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark


Anna North - 2015
    I think movies are the way I do that,” says Sophie Stark, a visionary and unapologetic filmmaker. She uses stories from the lives of those around her—her obsession, her girlfriend, and her husband—to create movies that bring her critical recognition and acclaim. But as her career explodes, Sophie’s unwavering dedication to her art leads to the shattering betrayal of the people she loves most.Told in a chorus of voices belonging to those who knew her best, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an intimate portrait of an elusive woman whose monumental talent and relentless pursuit of truth reveal the cost of producing great art, both for the artist and for the people around her.