Books like Along for the Ride — picked by fans

Set in small-town Alabama, Sophie is working at the local florist while dreaming all the big city dreams but slowly falling for love interest, Andrew. I’m a sucker for slow-burn romances told in unconventional ways while enjoying a good Southern setting, and this book has it! Enemies-to-lovers over the course of a year’s events and with a heavy dose of family dynamics bubbling to the surface? Yes, please!

I’m fascinated by books that take place in college, a rich transitional time where characters are still teens–insecure and figuring things out–but also with new adult responsibilities and freedoms. 

This book took me back to those late teen years of uncertainty and new adventures. The protagonist, Penny, is thrilled to be away from home at the University of Austin, Texas, but even more thrilled by meeting Sam, an aspiring filmmaker who works in a local café. These two couldn’t be more awkward, and through most of the book, they are too anxious to actually meet up and only communicate through text. Their final meet-up, like any good romance, is thrilling.

I loved the snappy dialogue and texts and the deep development of Choi’s characters. I also loved that author Choi’s website is called Choi to the World.

There’s just something about the man-versus-nature struggle, especially when the sheer force of Mother Nature is so vividly described in the pages of this book based in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Main characters Sophie and Finn, no strangers to backstories brimming with tremendous pain and loss, face down the eye of the hurricane, learning to lean on each other while learning more about the beauty of life. With such immersive descriptions (including the location’s wild horses!), readers can expect to be transported to the Southern coast on a true journey of self-discovery and second-chance love.

This Field Party series starter is my go-to when I need a good dose of Friday Night Lights, a splash of steam, and a heavy dose of drama. I mean, football meets love in bloom—can you get any more Southern that that? Main characters West and Maggie are both suffering through a recent/impending significant loss in their families, and this pain unites them on a deeper level than either has known before against the backdrop of a small Alabama town. 

What I most enjoyed about this book is the core message that business relationships, even successful and productive ones, are not meant to last forever. There is a season for everything. Far too often, partners enter into business relationships in the same way they enter a marriage, thinking that it will or should last forever. But there is a reason that the ceremony and the vows associated with the consummation of a marriage are missing from the formation of a business relationship.

This book advocates for beginning with the end in mind. It also helps readers understand that sometimes, ripping the band-aid off and ensuring the short-term pain is the only way to heal and prosper.

This book didn’t just change my life; it may have saved it.

Countless men across the world will say the same thing. It is an eye-opener. A game changer. A big stick upside the head. It turned my whole world upside down in the best possible way. 

While in the throes of depression and heartbreak, this was the only book that put a name to the beliefs and behaviors that seemed to govern my existence. It gave me the tools to develop more confidence, more resilience, and more self-respect. It also provided a roadmap to a better life. 

Learning to set boundaries – with work and with other people – was essential to helping me to recover from burnout, and this book is a practical how-to guide for how and why to set them.

In my own life, and in my work as a clinical psychologist, I have seen how chronic people-pleasing tendencies, and saying “yes” to everything, can lead to exhaustion and burnout. Having this book as a tool has helped me to be more intentional about saying no, and more assertive about standing up for my own needs.

As the author, Nedra Glover Tawwab, states in the book, “Burnout is overwhelming, and boundaries are the cure.” I couldn’t agree more!

I adore this book because it offers such practical, grounded strategies for navigating and facilitating change, drawing deep inspiration from the natural world.

Its insights feel both wise and usable, and they speak to a worldview and way of being that are profoundly dear to my heart.

It’s a touchstone for me—so much so that it permanently lives on my office bookshelf.

I’ve always been committed to personal growth, and as a high-achiever, I’m constantly setting new goals. This book is a faith-based guide to transforming your life by aligning your habits with your God-given identity. He offers a paradigm shift that argues that lasting change doesn’t come from willpower alone but from changing how you see yourself through the lens of who God says you are.

This has informed the way I see my goals and has taught me that if I want to change my behavior or accomplish a goal, I need to renew my mind systems, and relying on God’s strength, I can break negative patterns and form new, life-giving habits. I recommend this book to all the women I work with as a life coach, and it’s been the most practical and powerful book that has contributed to my recent professional and personal success. 

As a lifelong educator and coach, I’m constantly helping people think about their futures. One piece of advice I always give is to grab a copy of this book. Johnson is a futurist who works with large corporations, governments, and institutions on planning for the years and decades ahead. In this book, he brings his “future casting” process to the individual level, helping people change their story about their future and then showing them how to get there.

The future can feel daunting. Before reading this book, even I used to get tripped up thinking about it. Johnson reassures us with his measured thoughts on the topic and his clear, actionable program for seeing the future and your rightful place in it.