Reading: Realistic Fiction

Two young Pakistani Americans open a motel together in a sweeping story that crosses generations and continents in a novel about family and forgiveness, and love and loss. Young adult fiction. 374 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

18-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, Syria, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--not a war, but a revolution. Young adult fiction. 417 pages.

Chess whiz Mallory Greenleaf is done with the game that destroyed her family, but then agrees to one last game at a charity tournament, where she is sucked into a fierce competition and attraction with the Bad Boy of chess. Young adult fiction. 352 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

After the unexpected death of a beloved pope, Cardinal Lawrence and church leaders are locked together in the Vatican in an ancient ritual and discover secrets that could shake the foundation of the Church. This thriller of a novel was the basis for the 2024 motion picture. Fiction. 285 pages.

Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind. Young Adult Fiction. 537 pages.

One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, Disappearing Earth is described as brilliant, engrossing and daring. Set on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, the novel begins when two sisters, ages eight and eleven, go missing. Fiction. 255 pages.

Best selling novelist Colleen Hoover delivers a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters in an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price. Fiction. 376 pages. Disponible en español.

When Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl rent a house from the wealthy Richardson family, they quickly become entwined in each other's lives. When family friends of the Richardsons try to adopt a Chinese baby from a local woman a battle erupts that forces both families to reckon with culture, the powerful bond of motherhood, and long-hidden secrets. Fiction. 328 pages. Available as audiobook

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life--steady boyfriend, close family--who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Fiction. 369 pages.

Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant Naples neighborhood, the novel follows the divergent life of paths of Elena and Lila during a time of momentous change. From one of Italy's most acclaimed authors. Fiction. 331 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

A poignant coming of age novel told in a series of letters reveals the life of Charlie, a freshman in high school who is a wallflower, shy and introspective, and very intelligent. It's a story of what it's like to grow up in high school, tracing a course through uncharted territory in the world of first dates, family dramas and new friends. Young Adult Fiction. 231 pages. Available as ebook Disponible en español.

While Xiomara Batista’s parents are determined that she obey all of the laws of the Church, she pours her passions and frustration into a leather notebook. As her body is developing curves, her voice is developing through poetry. Written in verse, this book crackles with lyrical energy. Young adult fiction. 361 pages. Available as audiobook

Enduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four African American siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups. Fiction. 261 pages.

Pat Peoples formulates a theory about silver linings while in a neural health facility. Once he becomes physically fit and emotionally supportive, his happy ending will be the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. Or so he thinks. Fiction. 289 pages.

Set in Portland's working-class Lents neighborhood, sisters Sara, Elaine and Rachel work to hold onto their dignity through the daily struggles of living in poverty, often through daily acts of grace and good humor, to say nothing of quiet grit. Fiction. 225 pages.

A modern love story about two childhood friends, Sam, raised by an actress mother in LA's Koreatown, and Sadie, from the wealthy Jewish enclave of Beverly Hills, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. Fiction. 401 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Wandering Stars' traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather's shooting in Tommy Orange's best selling novel "There There." Fiction. 315 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Kya Clark is a young woman growing up practically on her own in the wild marshes of coastal North Carolina. This lush, lyrical novel takes a suspenseful turn when Kya is accused of murder. Fiction 368 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook