100 books like Idaho

I found this book absolutely riveting.

Outspoken, cantankerous, deep-hearted Olive Kitteridge is a character unlike any other, and I loved how the interconnected stories let us see her, her family, and her community at various points in time and how their decisions and ways of being affect the arcs of their lives.

I loved the complexity and uniqueness of all the characters, as well as the insights that this book offers about the intricacies, nuances, difficulties, and joys of being human. 

This is a book about many things—guilt, artmaking, and love among them—but when I think of it, I think of a novel that depicts the complexities of making and sustaining a life more deftly than anything else I’ve read. How things like cruelty and beauty, innocence and evil, truth and lies all coexist. How we move forward despite this uneasy balance.

The novel follows Fee, a boy who grows up in Maine and sings in an all-boys choir. The choir director turns out to be an abuser, and his actions haunt Fee and the other boys in the choir into adulthood.

On a prose level alone, Chee’s writing is unparalleled, his sentences sharp enough to cut glass. I don’t see how anyone could read this book and come away unchanged. 

This book marries two excellent elements: the campus novel and the 90s. Set on Harvard’s campus in 1995, this is an especially satisfying read for those of us who remember the rise of email, a mode of communication explored at length in the book.

Batuman captures the awkwardness of coming-of-age so precisely that you’ll either be compelled to look at your old Facebook photos or delete them entirely. Her deft depiction of growing up aside, this is also a beautiful exploration of finding intellectual and artistic community. 

Las Penas, New Mexico, is the setting for this moving novel that follows a year in the lives of the Padilla family. Valdez Quade creates characters with dazzling depth, and you’ll root for the Padillas as they stumble through twelve months, where everything they know is upended and destabilized.

The way this book portrays community reminds me of a favorite Sally Rooney quote from Normal People: “No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.”

I love writing and reading twists that keep the reader guessing along with the characters.

The main character in Take Your Breath Away is accused of killing his wife years before. Once he has moved away from the town of innuendos and restarted his life, what appears to be his long-lost wife reappears, leaving him and the reader asking, “what the heck?”

It takes a lot to keep me guessing until the end of the book and this one did just that. More emotional than romantic, it’s a love story gone wrong, thrilling suspense that will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

This was my first book by Colleen Hover because the blurb immediately appealed to me.

I love stories about female writers. I immediately sympathized with her unsuccessful career and was happy that she received an exciting job offer. And then immediate skepticism that everything couldn't be going smoothly there. The fear came slowly and made me look ever deeper into the abyss.

I read the book before going to sleep, which meant I stayed up late.

I love books that cross romance genres, and Lovely Digits qualifies as it’s a historical romantic suspense. I was hooked from the first page where the heroine, Lucy, deals with a particularly unruly case. I read this book while waiting to pick up my twins from school and at all times of day. 

The book revolves around two murders committed in the sleepy Victorian town of Clun, England, where an unlikely partnership forms between the new constable and the quirky heroine. Can they combine forces and prevent a third murder?

I liked how Lucy was ahead of her time as well as relatable and likeable. She cared for her sister and her cat while still proving her intelligence to the town and the hero while winning his heart.

This book surprised me based on the twists involved with the characters’ relationships with each other, especially for three of them.

The fact that they were all trapped in the same location helped raise the stakes for everyone suspecting each other of the crime. Those that trusted each other might even cover up for each other – with later plot reveals showing what happened otherwise.

This made it hard for me as a reader to figure out which characters were innocent or guilty, but I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out who did it! 

When people hear the word “polyamory,” many think of free love communes or wild sex parties. Not many people think of a suburban mom. Gracie X offers her story of discovering polyamory within the context of the average American family. Most importantly, the author shares her perspective on navigating non-monogamy while also raising children, a perspective that is sometimes neglected in polyamory discourse. If you have kids but also have an interest in non-monogamy, check out this honest take on the benefits and risks of practicing polyamory as a parent. 

Not only is Jancee Dunn wickedly funny, but her real world, practical advice, collected by experts (including my tips in a chapter about organizing your home), will resonate with new and not-so-new mothers everywhere. 

Although my children are now young adults, I remember the white-hot fury Jancee describes about why and how I became an expert on everything, from changing diapers, to scheduling carpools, to filling out the 42 pages of forms required for a teen trip to Australia, even though I worked more hours than my husband. I particularly enjoyed the chapter with advice from an FBI hostage negotiator. Who knew that simply paraphrasing your spouse’s words could work such wonders in diffusing a marital spat?