Book picks similar to
The Unusual Man by David R. Davis


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contemporary
fiction-historical

Saving Face


Brenda Barrett - 2013
    Natasha Rowe and her partner Harry Campbell are asked to go under cover to investigate what appears to be a murder. In the process of investigating, Natasha finds herself attracted to lecturer and psychiatrist Taj Jackson. She also realizes that all is not what it appears to be at the school. There are secrets and lies under the veneer of holiness, especially in the life of the dead president.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill


Abbi Waxman - 2019
    If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?Nina considers her options.1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee). 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

The Last Book Party


Karen Dukess - 2019
    With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts’ artistic son, Eve lands a new job as Henry Grey’s research assistant and an invitation to Henry and Tillie’s exclusive and famed "Book Party"— where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems.A page-turning, coming-of-age story, written with a lyrical sense of place and a profound appreciation for the sustaining power of books, The Last Book Party shows what happens when youth and experience collide and what it takes to find your own voice.

Strange Karma


Willow Healy - 2020
    She finds, in her deceased grandmother's desk, a secret compartment with a red diamond, the world's rarest gem, along with a batch of her great grandfather, Andrew Irvine's, 1924 Mount Everest expedition letters, which tell of a homicidal Sherpa, a murdered Buddhist monk, and the existence of a missing twin to her red diamond. Intrigued, she travels to Nepal and, guided by ex-Gurkha soldier Dorje, attempts to solve the mystery. But, when multiple attempts are made on her life, she realizes that some secrets should remain forever buried...REVIEW"The quality of the prose is strong throughout, with the depiction of the frozen wasteland of the Mimalayas being particularly effective."-- Kirkus ReviewsAWARD2nd Place in Romance Writers of America Kiss of Death's Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense

The Wednesday Sisters


Meg Waite Clayton - 2008
    Then one evening, as they gather to watch the Miss America Pageant, Linda admits that she aspires to write a novel herself, and the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society is born. The five women slowly, and often reluctantly, start filling journals, sliding pages into typewriters, and sharing their work. In the process, they explore the changing world around them: the Vietnam War, the race to the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they believe about themselves. At the same time, the friends carry one another through more personal changes—ones brought about by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success. With one another’s support and encouragement, the Wednesday Sisters begin to embrace who they are and what they hope to become, welcoming readers to experience, along with them, the power of dreaming big.

The Accidental Book Club


Jennifer Scott - 2014
    Dorothy, whose ruffian sons are a never-ending source of stress. May entertains the group with her outrageous dating stories, while Mitzi finds something political to rant about in every book—including Loretta’s trashy romances. Even Janet, with her mousy shyness and constant blush, has helped Jean rediscover the joy in life.So when Jean’s family starts unraveling again—her daughter forced into rehab and her troubled teen granddaughter, Bailey, coming to live with her in the interim—she turns to the book club for comfort and support. And, together, they all, even Bailey, discover that family is what you make of it, especially the family you choose…

Small World


Matt Beaumont - 2007
    The woman you see at the bus stop every morning; the man who reaches for the last newspaper just before you get to it. Everyone you meet, and some you nearly meet, will have an impact on the way your day goes.Small World is the story of a group of men and women, living and working in a city, who are connected through love, work, friendship, or simply by virtue of proximity. We connect with the hearts and minds of characters including an all-coping housewife, a stressed out working mother, a put-upon nanny, a long-suffering journalist, an Indian waiter who dreams of stardom, a grieving shop assistant, a stand-up comic and a psychotic policeman - all of whom speak directly to us about their innermost thoughts, fears and desires in a series of interwoven first-person narratives.

Swimming Home


Deborah Levy - 2011
    Set in a summer villa, the story is tautly structured, taking place over a week in which a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the French Riviera comes loose at the seams. Shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize.

Domestic Terrorism: A story from the collection Property


Lionel Shriver - 2018
     Lionel Shriver is…‘A brilliant writer’ Sunday Times‘Brilliant, funny and incisive’ Woman and Home‘Breezy, mordantly comic’ Daily Mail‘Eloquent’ ObserverIn ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Shriver examines the decline of the empty nest, in a hilarious and barbed story about an all-too-recognisable modern family.

There's Only One Danny Garvey


David F. Ross - 2020
    Professional clubs clamoured to sign him, and a glittering future beckoned. And yet, his early promise remained unfulfilled, and Danny is back home in the tiny village of Barshaw to manage the struggling junior team he once played for. What’s more, he’s hiding a secret about a tragic night, thirteen years earlier, that changed the course of several lives. There’s only one Danny Garvey, they once chanted … and that’s the problem.

Christmas Shorts 2020


Kathi Daley - 2020
    These single chapter shorts run between 25 – 30 pages each and take place over a one to two day period.A Christmas HauntingHaunting by the SeaFaced with a life altering decision, Amanda is visited by the ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Of course in this case, all three ghosts are played by alter ego Alyson, who has a vested interest in ensuring that the decision Amanda makes will be the one which will allow them both to live their happily ever after.Hunt for ChristmasA Sand and Sea MysteryIt’s just a week until Christmas and things are slow at Pope Investigations. Lani is having a hard time finding the Christmas spirit until Kekoa brings her one final case before they break for the holiday. It seems that a woman wants to hire Pope Investigations to find an angel tree topper that was mistakenly donated to the local church for their yard sale five years prior. The tree topper, was a gift to the woman’s grandmother when she fled Germany nearly eighty years ago. At first Lani is conflicted about taking on the nearly impossible case until she realizes a mystery such as this might very well provide the distraction she needs from tangled emotions relating to the oh so sexy cowboy she tried to forget but can’t seem to live without.Legacy in ParadiseTj Jensen MysteryWith Christmas just around the corner Tj is faced with the task of finding the perfect gift for her rich husband who already has everything. After a bit of thought she comes up with the idea of a scrapbook chronicling the Collins Family history. Kyle hadn’t known he was a Collins until after the last Collins living in America had died and left him his entire estate. Being the sort of guy who’s all about roots and family, Tj realizes that a gift of family really might turn out to be the best gift of all.

Hold On Edna!


Aneira Thomas - 2020
    This heartbreaking, heartwarming, true story following the history of a family in Wales is one of the most important books ever written. The birth of the National Health Service - the UK's greatest asset - coincided with the birth of one little girl in South Wales, Aneira 'Nye' Thomas, the first baby to be delivered by the NHS.Nye's story follows generations of her family who battled to survive before the NHS was launched, through to those who went on to dedicate their lives to working for the NHS - and also, ultimately, to be saved by it.An emotive, extraordinary and yet uplifting reminder of a time not so long ago, when the value of your life came down to how much you had in your pocket. It is a touching and entertaining human drama, but more importantly - a fierce defence of the most important accomplishment this country has ever and will ever achieve.

Where We Fall


Rochelle B. Weinstein - 2016
    She’s the mother of a beautiful teenager and the wife of a beloved high school football coach. And all it took to achieve her charmed life was her greatest act of betrayal.Coach Ryan can coax his team to victory, but he can’t seem to make his wife, Abby, happy. Her struggles with depression have marred their marriage and taken a toll on their daughter, Juliana. Although this isn’t the life he’s dreamed of, he’s determined to heal the rifts in his family.Chasing waterfalls and documenting their beauty has led photographer Lauren Sheppard all around the world. Now it has brought her back home to the mountains of North Carolina—back to the scene of her devastating heartbreak.For the first time in seventeen years, a trio of once-inseparable friends find themselves confronting past loves, hurts, and the rapid rush of a current that still pulls them together…

Coming Clean


Kimberly Rae Miller - 2013
    Kim Miller is an immaculately put-together woman with a great career, a loving boyfriend, and a beautifully tidy apartment in Brooklyn. You would never guess that she spent her childhood hiding behind the closed doors of her family’s idyllic Long Island house, navigating between teetering stacks of aging newspaper, broken computers, and boxes upon boxes of unused junk festering in every room—the product of her father’s painful and unending struggle with hoarding. In this coming-of-age story, Kim brings to life her experience of growing up in a rat-infested home, concealing her father’s shameful secret from friends for years, and of the emotional burden that ultimately led to an attempt to take her own life. And in beautiful prose, Miller sheds light on her complicated yet loving relationship with her parents that has thrived in spite of the odds. Coming Clean is a story about recognizing where we come from and the relationships that define us—and about finding peace in the homes we make for ourselves.

A Suite Deal (Suite Love Series Book 1)


Sue Gibson - 2008
    But when she finds an enormous, new-age hotel spoiling the view from her cherished inheritance, the tiny and pristine Osprey Island, Lily decides that the Nirvana Hotel's handsome owner warrants closer scrutiny. Ambitious hotelier Ethan Weatherall cut his teeth in the hotel industry and is determined to buy Lily's treasured island and convert it to a concrete helipad. Career-climbing, cosmopolitan Ethan cannot risk falling for a woman who could never be happy away from the wilds of nature. But it seems that boat may have already sailed, as he falls into the deep end for Lily's sweet soul and independent spirit. Lily must figure out a way to stop Ethan from destroying the tranquility of Loon Lake while trying to resist his charming city-bred manners. If she can't, there's more than just Osprey Island at stake. A Suite Deal is the first book in the Suite Love Series by Sue Gibson.