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Book Recommendations for General Fiction + Books About Animals

Click on the buttons below to filter by subgenre/theme, time period and setting.
All of these books have been read, reviewed, and recommended by our professional reviewers.
Learn how we choose recommended books here.
Total Books Recommended: 56

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Genre: Fiction
Literary Fiction - 33
Historical Fiction - 5
Thrillers - 2
Mystery - 7
Romance/Love Stories - 2
Short Stories - 3
Speculative, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Alt. History - 10
Poetry & Novels in Verse - 1

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Firsts
Debuts - 17
1st in Series - 1

Humor & Uplifting
Uplifting - 9
Humor & Satire - 6

Families
Generational Sagas - 3
Parenting & Families - 11

Ages & Stages
Adult Books From Child's Perspective - 3
Coming of Age - 8
Mid-Life Onwards - 4
Dealing with Loss - 18

Ethnicity
Books in Translation - 3
Immigrants & Expats - 2
Latinx Authors - 2
Asian Authors - 5

Gender & Sexuality
Female Friendships - 1
Strong Women - 16

Philosophy & Spiritual
Philosophical - 3
Religious or Spiritual Themes - 3

Magical or Supernatural
Magical or Supernatural - 9
Magical Realism - 3

Miscellaneous
Books with Discussion Guides - 22
Small Press Titles - 7
Books about Books - 2
Physical & Mental Differences - 3
Books About Animals - 56
War Related - 3
Nature & Environment - 22
Music and the Arts - 1
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LibraryReads Picks - 4

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400+ Pages - 6
250-400 Pages - 56
Less Than 250 Pages - 13

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Time Period
17th Century or Earlier - 1
19th Century - 5
20th Century (multiple decades) - 1
1920s & '30s - 1
1940s & '50s - 1
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1980s & '90s - 5
Contemporary - 28
The Future - 5

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Major Regions
USA - 28
Canada - 1
Central & S. America, Mexico, Caribbean - 2
Europe - 5
Asia - 2
Africa - 2
Pacific, inc. Hawaii, Aus & NZ - 1
Alaska & Other Polar/Sub Polar Regions - 1
On The High Seas - 3
Global - 2
Imaginary Locations - 4

USA (48 States)
N.H. Vt. Maine - 2
Mass. - 2
New York State - 1
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Tenn. Va. W.Va. Ky. - 2
N & S Carolina - 1
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Ind. Mich. Ohio - 1
Minn. Wis. Iowa - 3
Ariz. Nev. N.M. Utah - 2
California - 5
Wash. Ore. Idaho - 3

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New England, USA - 4
Mid-Atlantic, USA - 3
South, USA - 8
Midwest, USA - 7
West, USA - 8

Europe by Region
UK (Britain) & Ireland - 6
Scandinavia - 2

Asia by Region
Russia (North Asia) - 1
East Asia (except China) - 2

Africa by Region
Eastern Africa - 1
Middle & Southern Africa - 1

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  • Say Hello to My Little Friend
    Jennine Capó Crucet
    Paperback: 03/25/2025
     
    Scarface meets Moby Dick in this groundbreaking, darkly comic novel about a young man's attempt to capitalize ...
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures
    Shelby Van Pelt
    Paperback: 03/04/2025
     
    Winner of the 2022 BookBrowse Debut Award

    For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively ...
  • Absolution
    Absolution: Southern Reach, book 4
    Jeff VanderMeer
    Hardcover: 10/22/2024
     
    The surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach series―and the final word on one of the ...
  • Wings in the Wild
    Margarita Engle
    Paperback: 04/23/2024
     
    This gorgeously romantic contemporary novel-in-verse from award-winning author Margarita Engle tells the ...
  • The Last Animal
    Ramona Ausubel
    Paperback: 03/26/2024
     
    A playful, witty, and resonant novel in which a single mother and her two teen daughters engage in a wild ...
  • Horse
    Horse: A Novel
    Geraldine Brooks
    Paperback: 01/16/2024
     
    Winner of the 2022 BookBrowse Fiction Award

    A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and ...
  • The Privilege of the Happy Ending
    The Privilege of the Happy Ending: Small, Medium, and Large Stories
    Kij Johnson
    Hardcover: 10/24/2023
     
    A surprising and exciting new collection of speculative and experimental stories that explore animal ...

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