Here are 100 books that The Museum of Ordinary People fans have personally recommended if you like
The Museum of Ordinary People.
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I’m a lifelong reader who gravitates toward character-driven stories with a thread of hope. I’m a sucker for a good happily-ever-after, but I will read almost anything that rings true. I love books that make me feel deeply, and I believe stories are one of the best ways to develop empathy and compassion. I’ve been writing my own stories since I was eight years old making books with notebook paper and cereal-box covers.
This is the kind of book I like to read in a day, curled up in my favorite chair or stretched out in a backyard hammock. From the moment I opened the cover, I was immersed in this funny, sweet story and captivated by the endearing characters.
I love a romance that has some shadows to balance out the lightness, and this finds that balance.
'A big hit of dopamine' EMILY GIFFIN *The instant New York Times bestseller!*
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She's rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma has big dreams, though she hasn't let herself think about them in years. Until her big break comes along: she's offered the chance to write a screenplay with none other than her hero, Charlie-freaking-Yates! And it's a rom-com! It's the dream... Until reality sets in.
Charlie is a bonafide Hollywood movie-writing legend. He's also, as it turns out, kind of a jerk. He's only writing this movie to get a Mafia movie that he…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I’m a lifelong reader who gravitates toward character-driven stories with a thread of hope. I’m a sucker for a good happily-ever-after, but I will read almost anything that rings true. I love books that make me feel deeply, and I believe stories are one of the best ways to develop empathy and compassion. I’ve been writing my own stories since I was eight years old making books with notebook paper and cereal-box covers.
I’m a firm believer that a fulfilling, interesting, adventurous life isn’t just for the young, and that’s one thing I loved about this book and its dual storyline between a young woman and her grandmother.
It reminded me that a change in perspective often does wonders and that love can often be found in unexpected places.
A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in The Switch, a charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary, who has been hailed as “the new Jojo Moyes” (Cosmopolitan UK)...
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some long-overdue rest.
Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.
So they decide to try a two-month swap.
Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll…
I’m a lifelong reader who gravitates toward character-driven stories with a thread of hope. I’m a sucker for a good happily-ever-after, but I will read almost anything that rings true. I love books that make me feel deeply, and I believe stories are one of the best ways to develop empathy and compassion. I’ve been writing my own stories since I was eight years old making books with notebook paper and cereal-box covers.
This book made me laugh, cry, and swoon…so it’s basically everything I want from a romance. It’s about living in the present and realizing that all of our experiences shape who we are. Every element of this story is pitch-perfect, in my opinion, with just the right balance of introspection, heart, and humor.
The characters are endearing and relatable, and I was rooting for them the whole time.
Is living the life you've wished for really a dream come true?
Lucy Young is twenty-six and tired. Tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, sick of going on disastrous dates, and done with living in a damp flat with roommates who never buy toilet paper. After another disappointing date, Lucy stumbles upon a wishing machine. Pushing a coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes with all her might: Please, let me skip to the good part of my life.
When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I’m a lifelong reader who gravitates toward character-driven stories with a thread of hope. I’m a sucker for a good happily-ever-after, but I will read almost anything that rings true. I love books that make me feel deeply, and I believe stories are one of the best ways to develop empathy and compassion. I’ve been writing my own stories since I was eight years old making books with notebook paper and cereal-box covers.
I adored this romantic and layered story. The characters were grounded, realistic, and loveable.
The conflicts and tension in the story felt true to life and kept me turning the pages, as did the heart-thumping—and non–traditional—romance. I stayed up way too late devouring this novel, which, in my world, is the highest praise.
Josephine, a 41-year-old single mom, is too busy for romance. Balancing a teenage daughter and an autistic son keeps her hands full. Now, she's in a showdown with the special education department at Jackson's new school, advocating for his needs—occasionally in her pajamas.Thirty-two-year-old Gavin left the sales world for education because he didn't know what he wanted. The last thing the school coordinator expects—or needs—is to catch feelings for the mother of one of his clients.Juggling special education meetings, Shabbat dinners, support groups, and stolen kisses, Josephine and Gavin must figure out how to meet Jackson's needs while deciding if…
During my MFA, I learned to write family dramas and character-driven fiction, but I wanted more comfort, joy, and… romance! I knew the swoony and funny aspects of rom-coms could lift heavier emotional subjects like grief and loss, allowing readers to explore these resonant aspects of life safely, with a guaranteed Happily Ever After. All the books on this list explore a full emotional range of the human experience through extraordinary, utterly magical love stories about otherwise ordinary, flawed people. I hope they make you laugh, swoon, maybe shed a few cathartic tears, and come out the other side feeling better than when you turned the first page.
Noelle is grieving the recent loss of her grandmother and finds herself recreating a honeymoon trip her grandmother once planned with a former love, Paul. It’s the trip of a lifetime… except along for the ride is Paul’s grandson, Theo, who happens to be Noelle’s former high school rival.
Over the course of the trip, Noelle achieves real emotional healing, both in working through her grief and in finding herself again. She also comes to see that the guy she thought was always competing with her just might have been driving her to be better and vice versa.
Noelle and Theo’s romance is so tender and sexy, with snappy dialogue, intense chemistry, and heart-rending emotional moments. I laughed and cried and loved every page.
From my early days of reading Fire and Hemlock and various books of mythology, I’ve loved traditional tales from all around the world. In college I didn’t aim to major in things that would be useful to me as a fantasy writer, but anthropology and folklore made a great background for that job. Nowadays, I actively seek out books based on traditional stories, especially those that go beyond the most well-known European fairy tales and myths. Sometimes, they inspire me, in turn, to write my own stories!
This is an absolutely gorgeous, lyrical read that does my favorite thing: blending folklore–in this case, Eastern European Jewish traditions–with historical individuals and events. It’s melancholy without being unrelentingly grim, hopeful without ignoring the hard edges of history, and it does a beautiful job of weaving its various strands together.
I don’t tend to read a lot of books that captivate me from the first page with their prose, but this was one of them.
A SPELLBINDING TALE OF LOVE AND LOSS, SISTERHOOD AND THE TANGLED THREADS OF FATE.
'Blending folktale with history, hope with tragedy, its touch will linger on your heart long after you put it down' Marie Brennan, author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent series
This is how a fairy tale begins . . .
Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they perform small miracles and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters.
A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!
Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…
I grew up in a family that avoided expressing any emotion. A happy house was one where anger and frustration were unheard of. Even laughter was suspect. Books allowed me to experience joy and sorrow. Books allowed me to express my feelings, even though it was behind my closed bedroom door, clutching a handful of sodden tissues, exhausted from the novelty of letting my emotions out. These books are not the books of my childhood. Instead, they are the books of the grown-up me who no longer has to hide behind her bedroom door. I think you will love them just as much as I do.
This is a story about adoption. But not the story of the poor child no one wants. Instead, it is the story of the joy of growing up knowing that the child is blessed to have been chosen by their adoptive family.
Laurie Frankel’s main character, India Altwood, wants people to know that family is complicated. Love is complicated. And maybe people shouldn’t be too quick to judge.
This book is an excellent example of why I love this author. She is brave and honest, tackling stories that need to be told.
India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actress. Armed with a stack of index cards (which, torn into pieces, also function as make-shift confetti) and a hell of a lot of talent, she goes from awkward 16-year-old to Broadway ingenue to tv star.
But while promoting her most recent project, a film about adoption, India does what you should never do - she tells a journalist the truth: it's a bad movie. Like so many movies about adoption, it tells only one story, a tragic one. But India's an adoptive mum herself and knows there's so much more to…
I am passionate about writing. In my childhood in a rural Montana town, I read all the books in the school library. I also kept diaries, wrote poetry, and when I moved to California at age 16, wrote essays that my High School English teachers read aloud to the class. I switched to academic writing when studying for a master’s degree in social welfare and obtaining a doctorate degree in multicultural education. Since retiring as a school administrator, I have written about my travels in 105 countries. My writing has appeared in numerous print and online publications. My second memoir tells of the struggles and triumphs of a bicultural marriage.
I’m not sure why this Oprah’s Book Club pick is named Long Island since most of the crucial scenes take place in Ireland, the homeland of forty-three-year-old Eilis Lacey. I read this book because it is the sequel to Toibin’s previous book, Brooklyn, which was made into a movie starring Saoirse Ronan.
I often wonder what happens to couples after their romantic and enthralling beginnings, and life between two cultures interests me. It shows the differences that develop between two people from different cultures who fall in love and try to make a life together. In this second half of their lives, the couple have more than the usual problems. The unending plot-twists led me to finish the book in a day. A good read, but I’m sure the ending will be controversial.
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Stunning.” —People * “Dazzling yet devastating...Tóibín is simply one of the world’s best living literary writers.” —The Boston Globe * “Momentous and hugely affecting.” —The Wall Street Journal *
From the beloved, critically acclaimed, bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving novel featuring Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine of Brooklyn, Tóibín’s most popular work in twenty years.
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island,…
Becoming a mother rocked my world in countless ways, drawing me to books that explore the raw, unfiltered truth about how challenging motherhood can be. The complexities—the love, guilt, and frustration—resonate deeply with me. Motherhood is also why I started writing; initially, I wanted to process the overwhelming emotions I was feeling. When I began sharing my writing with friends, their “Yeah, me too's” made me realize I wasn’t alone. I have deep respect for authors who can capture the messiness of motherhood so honestly, and I’m inspired by their ability to put into words what so many of us experience.
This book is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the pressure moms feel to appear perfect, all while grappling with the realities of parenting in a world that demands so much of us. It addresses head-on the silent struggles and unspoken fears that many women face.
Audrain does a brilliant job of putting into words the conflicting emotions of love, guilt, and frustration that often accompany motherhood. It follows four women, all of whom I loved and hated at different moments, and explores how the weight of expectations can drive women to their breaking points.
It’s dark suburbia at its best, and it takes time to peel back the layers of the characters’ seemingly perfect lives until we can see the painful, messy truths underneath.
“Expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered….[The Whispers] delivers a sucker-punch ending you’ll have to read twice to believe.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[An] electrifying…razor-sharp page-turner.” —Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
Featured in summer reading recommendations by Good Morning America, TIME, ELLE, The Washington Post & more
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Push, a propulsive page-turner about four families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens—and what is lost when we give in to our own worst impulses
On Harlow Street, the well-to-do neighborhood couples and their children gather…
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
I am a long-time ER nurse, aid worker, and writer, and I have long been fascinated by true crime/mysteries; much of that interest honed in the ER, where I was often stumped when patient injuries or recollections of witnesses didn’t quite add up. As amateur detectives, we ER nurses often hounded detectives with our own theories, and in one especially big murder case, we had figured out exactly what had happened and who the real killer was before the detectives did. I am also a voracious reader and love a good mystery/thriller to take me away from real life, except when I am solving real life crimes on Dateline.
This was my first Freida McFadden book, and I was drawn in from the start and though I wasn’t sure how I felt about the narrator (the maid) or the husband and wife who hired her; I love a main character who makes me cringe and that she was the housekeeper privy to the owners’ secrets kept me guessing.
The prologue set me up for an ending that I never saw coming. Is she a housemaid or something else? I read this in one sitting!
Don't miss the New York Times and USA Today bestseller and addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist that’s burning up Instagram and TikTok--Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid is perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, and Verity.
Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.
I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies…
