55 books like One Good Turn

I have returned to many of these stories over and over again through the years—for Cheever’s prose, for his sense of what makes men tick. On one level, I can’t quite relate to white suburban husbands in upstate New York in the 1950s and 60s. And yet, somehow, they seem profoundly familiar. 

Mary Durant was my mother. This was her first novel, published in 1963. When I read it, the proverbial light bulb popped to life in my very young head: I recognized the real-life people and events upon whom the characters and plot were based, and because of that familiarity, saw the way my mother had changed things around, invented circumstances, conversations and fashioned composite characters to create a story. It was a behind-the-scenes crash course in the art of fiction-writing, the marvelous synthesis by which the novelist spins fact and invention into literature. And I understood that really good fiction, though technically a "made up" story, is always imbued with Truth with a capital "T," and that great writing and Truth are inextricably intertangled.

My mother was a first-rate writer and reader, and because of her, I was initiated into the quasi-secret bandwidth of real literature. The key: it’s all… show more.

This is a memoir by a great Australian writer of literary fiction. Set in Perth in the late 40s, the 50s, and early 60s, this book is not fiction, but it’s as profoundly satisfying as a fine novel, and the author uses, with great artistry and authority, certain conventions of fiction. It’s coming-of-age interwoven with the chilling true-crime story of a lurking serial killer, who turns out to have close ties to the author’s own family; one of the victims is a boy the author knew. Perth, on the southwest coast of Australia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on one side and the vast Australian outback on the other, is often called the most isolated city in the world. It’s known for being a bland, safe place with a low crime rate, making it the perfect sundrenched-but-sinister setting for scandal, murder, and awakening sexuality. Drewe is a powerful writer, and… show more.

William Faulkner might have been the father of Southern Gothic, but Flannery O’Connor was the master. This is one of those books that makes you thankful for genius. Because everything about this book is genius. The story is about a young man named Hazel Motes who struggles to avoid his relentless fate. O’Connor’s writing is filled with religious extremism, grotesqueness, and mental illness—all the things that make America great. If I could have written a single book—this would be it.  

This book breaks down illusions about wealth and gives it to ‘em straight.

Just because you think a person has money, it doesn’t mean that they have money. In fact, those who flaunt their wealth could actually be headed for disaster, as they spend their dollars on an endless effort to impress, one-up, and reward themselves. And because they are spending money they are not saving money. So while their bank account plateaus (or worse, depletes), the account of the unassuming, unflashy neighbor next-door flourishes, as he invests, saves, and plans—placing the max amount of $ into his 401K—until he eventually becomes, the “millionaire next door”… The save vs. spend principle seems obvious here, but the psychology of spending is not. It is curious and complicated, fascinating and (sometimes) hard to fathom… So it's good there is a book out there that examines wealth and de-bunks perception, so that people… show more.

The Millionaire Mind is a non-fiction book that provides a detailed analysis of the traits and characteristics of millionaires in the United States.

From the outside looking in or from what we are taught you understand that wealth was passed down and most rich people came from money or are extremely smart. Based on reading this book, I understand that it is a false narrative and in fact almost 95% of millionaires are self-made and were B & C students in college.

This book is what helped me actually change my beliefs on becoming a millionaire and made it a reality. Understanding that most millionaires were just like me but looked different and had similar backgrounds, I just followed the steps that they did and achieved the same goal.

This book will actually help you become a millionaire or at least help you understand it’s possible for anyone who applies… show more.

Savvy entrepreneurs and executives have always been able to spot what’s just over the horizon. T.J. Stiles’ book charts the epic and sometimes unimaginable life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who helped to shape our modern world through a combination of sheer will and vision.

He built his fortune on steamships but divested of those assets when he saw that the railways he had built were opening up America’s bountiful frontier. He traded legacy technology for something better. In business, as in politics and life, history does not repeat, but it often rhymes.

The Millionaire and the Bard almost makes you believe in money. This biography of Henry Clay Folger records a great American success story: “Poor-Boy-Makes-Good” (with money from Standard Oil). But look at what Folger did with his money! He collected copies of Shakespeare’s Folios, the first edition of which is the most valuable book in the world ($9.98 million for the copy sold in New York on October 14, 2020).  

Andrea Mays tells three stories: the biography of Henry Folger, who saved the First Folio; the story of the Folio itself (how it was published, read, and preserved); and the creation of the Folger Shakespeare Library, an amazing research and educational institution, improbably sited in Washington, D.C. I love this biography because it proves that one person (greatly assisted by his wife) can surely make a difference!

Now this book was a Christmas gift from my daughter who was 23 at the time. I typically will submit a readers list to my family around the holidays but this one was not on my list believe it or not.

Little did I know that it would become one of my favorite books and here's why. Dean doesn’t sugarcoat his experience around what it takes to get to the next level. He gives you real examples and will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone very similar to Jack Canfield but with a totally different writing style.

The difference between Jack and Dean, in my opinion, is that Dean uses a more personal approach to storytelling so you feel like you are on the journey right along with him the good the bad, and the ugly.

He then goes into detail about the who, what, and why… show more.

This book has inspired an entire genre of content where a group of people find themselves in a situation similar to her secluded island...and they cannot leave. I just ticked off a handful of books and TV shows that use this model, and I enjoy them all.

In the novel, multiple points of view drive the narrative, and the perpetrators choose the victims based on their own dubious, possibly criminal, histories. I found the reduction of the soldiers on the dining room table as each person dies to be diabolically brilliant, ratcheting up an already unbearable tension.

I strive to achieve her novel’s seemingly effortless pacing…as the clue drops sprinkled meticulously throughout the book. This is one I re-read simply because I always learn something new.