Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Book Recommendations for General Fiction + Mid-Life Onwards

Click on the buttons below to filter by subgenre/theme, time period and setting.
Learn how we choose recommended books here.
Total Books Recommended: 250

Page 1 of 32
Reset Filters
Filter by Genre
Genre: Fiction
Literary Fiction - 178
Historical Fiction - 22
Thrillers - 15
Mystery - 21
Romance/Love Stories - 20
Short Stories - 21
Speculative, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Alt. History - 4

Filter by Subgenre/Theme
Firsts
Debuts - 46
1st in Series - 6

Humor & Uplifting
Uplifting - 31
Humor & Satire - 17

Families
Generational Sagas - 47
Parenting & Families - 39

Ages & Stages
Adult Books From Child's Perspective - 4
Coming of Age - 22
Mid-Life Onwards - 250
Dealing with Loss - 73

Ethnicity
Books in Translation - 9
Immigrants & Expats - 20
Black Authors - 9
Latinx Authors - 2
Asian Authors - 14
Jewish Authors - 13
Middle-Eastern Authors - 3
Native and Indigenous Authors - 2

Gender & Sexuality
Female Friendships - 14
Strong Women - 48
LGBTQ+ - 9

Philosophy & Spiritual
Philosophical - 18
Religious or Spiritual Themes - 14

Magical or Supernatural
Magical or Supernatural - 9
Magical Realism - 1

Miscellaneous
Small Press Titles - 16
Books about Books - 7
Physical & Mental Differences - 21
Books About Animals - 4
War Related - 27
Nature & Environment - 16
Music and the Arts - 5
Activism & Volunteering - 1
Heroes - 1
LibraryReads Picks - 23

Number of Pages
400+ Pages - 20
250-400 Pages - 250
Less Than 250 Pages - 56

Filter by Time Period
Time Period
17th Century or Earlier - 3
18th Century - 1
19th Century - 7
20th Century (multiple decades) - 44
Early 20th Century - 5
1920s & '30s - 2
1940s & '50s - 11
1960s & '70s - 9
1980s & '90s - 32
Contemporary - 140
The Future - 4
Across The Centuries - 3

Filter by Setting
Major Regions
USA - 124
Canada - 5
Central & S. America, Mexico, Caribbean - 8
Europe - 46
Asia - 14
Africa - 2
Pacific, inc. Hawaii, Aus & NZ - 4
Alaska & Other Polar/Sub Polar Regions - 1
Global - 6
Imaginary Locations - 1

USA (48 States)
N.H. Vt. Maine - 7
Conn. & R.I. - 2
Mass. - 10
Penn. - 1
New York State - 28
New Jersey - 3
Md. Del. - 2
Washington DC - 4
Tenn. Va. W.Va. Ky. - 1
N & S Carolina - 2
Mis. Ala. Ga. - 3
Florida - 1
Texas - 2
Ark. La. Ok. - 4
Kas. Mo. - 1
Illinois - 4
Ind. Mich. Ohio - 3
Minn. Wis. Iowa - 4
Nebr.& Dakotas - 1
Colo. Wyo. Mont. - 7
Ariz. Nev. N.M. Utah - 3
California - 9
Wash. Ore. Idaho - 4

USA Regions
New England, USA - 36
Mid-Atlantic, USA - 34
South, USA - 18
Midwest, USA - 16
West, USA - 21

Europe by Region
UK (Britain) & Ireland - 50
Scandinavia - 6
Netherlands & Belgium - 1
France - 4
Spain - 3
Germany - 4
Italy - 5
Eastern Europe - 2

Asia by Region
Middle-East (West Asia) - 8
Russia (North Asia) - 3
East Asia (except China) - 1
China - 5
India - 2
South-East Asia - 2

Africa by Region
Middle & Southern Africa - 1
Northern & Western Africa - 1

Select your view:
Order books by:
  • The Frozen River
    Ariel Lawhon
    Paperback: 11/05/2024
     
    From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping ...
  • Blood Test
    Blood Test: A Comedy
    Charles Baxter
    Hardcover: 10/15/2024
     
    From the winner of the PEN/Malamud Award and "one of our most gifted writers" (Chicago Tribune) comes a comic ...
  • The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Hardcover: 10/08/2024
     
    It's never too late for new beginnings.
  • 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 Night Guest
    Hildur Knútsdóttir
    Hardcover: 09/03/2024
     
    Hildur Knútsdóttir's The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjav&#...
  • Colored Television
    Danzy Senna
    Hardcover: 09/03/2024
     
    A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial- identity-industrial ...
  • Witness
    Witness: Stories
    Jamel Brinkley
    Paperback: 07/30/2024
     
    From National Book Award finalist Jamel Brinkley, Witness is an elegant, insistent narrative of actions taken ...

Full results are for members only - but you can cross-reference more than one theme by using the buttons in the right column. Members please login. Interested in becoming a member? Explore the many benefits of membership here.

The reviewer of each book decides which categories it belongs in - but we're only human, mistakes happen. If you see a book that you think is in the wrong place, tell us!

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.