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Book Recommendations for General Fiction + Uplifting

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: 132

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Filter by Genre
Genre: Fiction
Literary Fiction - 104
Historical Fiction - 12
Thrillers - 1
Mystery - 10
Romance/Love Stories - 22
Short Stories - 2
Speculative, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Alt. History - 5

Filter by Subgenre/Theme
Firsts
Debuts - 38
1st in Series - 8

Humor & Uplifting
Uplifting - 132
Humor & Satire - 14

Families
Generational Sagas - 15
Parenting & Families - 15

Ages & Stages
Adult Books From Child's Perspective - 4
Coming of Age - 16
Mid-Life Onwards - 31
Dealing with Loss - 37

Ethnicity
Books in Translation - 2
Immigrants & Expats - 8
Black Authors - 5
Asian Authors - 5
Middle-Eastern Authors - 1
Native and Indigenous Authors - 1

Gender & Sexuality
Female Friendships - 10
Strong Women - 33
LGBTQ+ - 7

Philosophy & Spiritual
Philosophical - 7
Religious or Spiritual Themes - 4

Magical or Supernatural
Magical or Supernatural - 8
Magical Realism - 2

Miscellaneous
Books with Discussion Guides - 90
Small Press Titles - 6
Books about Books - 11
Physical & Mental Differences - 10
Books About Animals - 9
War Related - 7
Nature & Environment - 3
Activism & Volunteering - 3
LibraryReads Picks - 17

Number of Pages
400+ Pages - 4
250-400 Pages - 132
Less Than 250 Pages - 30

Filter by Time Period
Time Period
19th Century - 2
20th Century (multiple decades) - 5
Early 20th Century - 1
1920s & '30s - 5
1940s & '50s - 9
1960s & '70s - 5
1980s & '90s - 25
Contemporary - 71
The Future - 1
Across The Centuries - 2

Filter by Setting
Major Regions
USA - 67
Central & S. America, Mexico, Caribbean - 1
Europe - 20
Asia - 1
Africa - 7
Pacific, inc. Hawaii, Aus & NZ - 1
Alaska & Other Polar/Sub Polar Regions - 1
On The High Seas - 1
Global - 2
Imaginary Locations - 3

USA (48 States)
N.H. Vt. Maine - 3
Conn. & R.I. - 1
Mass. - 5
Penn. - 2
New York State - 7
New Jersey - 1
Md. Del. - 1
Washington DC - 2
Tenn. Va. W.Va. Ky. - 2
N & S Carolina - 4
Mis. Ala. Ga. - 2
Texas - 3
Ark. La. Ok. - 3
Kas. Mo. - 1
Illinois - 1
Ind. Mich. Ohio - 2
Minn. Wis. Iowa - 4
Nebr.& Dakotas - 2
Colo. Wyo. Mont. - 3
Ariz. Nev. N.M. Utah - 1
California - 8
Wash. Ore. Idaho - 8

USA Regions
New England, USA - 15
Mid-Atlantic, USA - 11
South, USA - 18
Midwest, USA - 9
West, USA - 18

Europe by Region
UK (Britain) & Ireland - 29
Scandinavia - 1
France - 2
Germany - 1
Italy - 2
Eastern Europe - 1

Asia by Region
East Asia (except China) - 2

Africa by Region
Eastern Africa - 1
Middle & Southern Africa - 6

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  • Great Big Beautiful Life
    Emily Henry
    Hardcover: 04/22/2025
     
    Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of ...
  • Becoming Madam Secretary
    Stephanie Dray
    Paperback: 03/18/2025
     
    New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an ...
  • 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 ...
  • Land of Milk and Honey
    C Pam Zhang
    Paperback: 09/24/2024
     
    The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel ...
  • Tell Me Everything
    Elizabeth Strout
    Hardcover: 09/10/2024
     
    From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships...
  • The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
    Bart Yates
    Hardcover: 07/23/2024
     
    Both sweeping and exquisitely intimate, award-winning author Bart Yates blends historical fact and fiction in ...
  • The Collected Regrets of Clover
    Mikki Brammer
    Paperback: 05/21/2024
     
    Mikki Brammer's The Collected Regrets of Clover is a big-hearted and life-affirming debut about a death doula ...

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