A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Books like A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

20
Options
Considered
October 25, 2022
Last
Updated

#1 Books Like Crazy Rich Asians

The brilliantly amusing debut book Crazy Rich Asians is about three affluent, distinguished Chinese families and the plotting, backstabbing, and gossip that ensues when the heir to one of Asia’s largest fortunes invites his ABC (American-born Chinese) fiancée to the wedding of the season.

Crazy Rich Asians is an inside look at the Asian JetSet, a perfect representation of the conflict between old money and new money, between Overseas Chinese and Mainland Chinese, and a fantastic novel about what it means to be young, in love, and gloriously, crazily rich. It is hilarious, addictive, and filled with jaw-dropping opulence.

#2 Books Like Under The Oak Tree

The stuttering Maximilian, a duke’s daughter, was forced by her father into marriage to a humble knight. Her husband abruptly left for an expedition after their first night together. Three years later, he returns, this time as a renowned knight throughout the continent. When he came back, how would Maximilian greet him?

#3 Books Like Vox

The terrifying, haunting tale of what one woman would do to defend herself and her daughter is told in VOX, which is set in an America where half of the population has indeed been silenced. Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial on the day the government orders that women can no longer talk more than 100 words per day; this can’t happen here. In America, no. To her, no.

This is only the start. Women will soon be unable to hold employment. No longer are girls taught to read or write. No longer do women have voices. Women now only have one hundred words to make themselves heard, compared to the previous average of sixteen thousand words every day. But it’s not the end yet. Jean will recover her voice for herself, her daughter, as well as every woman who has been silenced.

#4 Books Like National Treasure

In “National Treasures,” men and women quantify the length of their lives in tattoos, moose foot parts that have been sharpened, autumnal leaves, scrawled phone numbers, and herons’ scarlet eyes. This is the America we never see since it isn’t depicted in television shows or the news.

#5 Shuggie Bain

Hugh “Shuggie” Bain is a little kid who spends his boyhood in Glasgow, Scotland’s run-down public housing in the 1980s. His story, shuggie bain, is an unforgettable one. The famed drug epidemic in the city is waiting in the wings, and Thatcher’s policies have rendered sons and husbands jobless.

Agnes, Shuggie’s mother, travels a perilous path; while she is Shuggie’s compass, she also weighs heavily on him and his siblings. She flips through Freeman’s catalog, ordering a little happiness on credit—anything to make her life less gloomy—while daydreaming about a home with a front door of her own. Massimo will imprison Laura in his opulent estate for a year in an attempt to earn her heart. He will let her go if she doesn’t become infatuated with him during this period. But he will find her and murder her entire family if she makes any attempt to flee.

#6 The Curious Charms Of Arthur Pepper

In this moving and brilliant debut novel, a beloved widower sets out on a journey that will change his life.

Arthur Pepper, who is 69 years old, has a straightforward life. The same time he did while his wife Miriam was still living, he rises from bed at precisely 7:30 in the morning. He gets into the same pair of grey trousers and mustard sweater vest, waters Frederica the fern, and then goes outside to his garden.

#7 China Rich Girlfriend

Rachel ought to be ecstatic on the night of her nuptials to Nicholas Young, the heir of one of Asia’s largest fortunes. She possesses a flawless JAR Asscher-cut diamond, a wedding gown she adores more than anything she could find in a Parisian salon, and a fiancé who is prepared to give up his entire inheritance in order to wed her. But Rachel still laments the absence of her birthfather, a man she never met, at the ceremony. Until: a startling revelation plunges Rachel into a Shanghai grandeur world she could never have imagined.

Here we meet Rachel’s father, the man she has waited her entire life to meet, as well as Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad guy with Prince Harry-like antics, Colette, a celebrity girlfriend being pursued by feverish paparazzi, and Carlton. Astrid Leong, Singapore’s It Girl, is astonished to learn that having a freshly minted tech billionaire spouse has drawbacks. China Rich Girlfriend is a frolic through the most exclusive clubs, auctioneers, and estates in Asia. It introduces us to a fascinating ensemble of individuals and gives us an inside look at what it’s like to be fabulously, insanely, China-rich.

#8 Where’d You Go Bernadette

Bernadette Fox is no longer there. The fiercely brilliant recluse Bernadette jumps into planning the trip when her daughter Bee demands a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for receiving all As. But Ms. Fox is on the verge of a breakdown after years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted. And after she causes a school fundraiser to go horribly wrong, she vanishes, leaving her family to pick up the pieces. Bee does just that, putting together a complex network of emails, bills, and school memoranda that sheds light on Bernadette’s long-hidden secret background. The brilliant and blatantly entertaining book Where’d You Go Bernadette is about a family coming to grips with who they are and the strength of a daughter’s affection for her mother.

Best Quotes from this Book:

#9 The Art Of Inheriting Secrets

The affluent food critic Olivia Shaw is shocked to find out she has inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it—after her mother passes away. Olivia leaves San Francisco and travels across the pond to solve the puzzle of a lifetime. She has overcome with anguish and reels from the realization that her reticent mother concealed something so important.

Olivia only needs to take one look at the gorgeous Rosemere Priory to see why her mother painted the mansion, which is stunning even in its state of decay. She is baffled as to why her mother never brought it up to her. Olivia finds that the crumbling wallpaper, litter-filled hallways, and ceiling-high Elizabethan windows covered in lush green vines conceal improbable truths as she begins researching her mother’s past. Olivia finds herself falling in love with the quaint English village and its citizens despite the fact that her personal issues and her life back home beckon. Olivia must first unravel the mysteries of her history before she can choose what Rosemere and her future contain.

#10 The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

5-year period. Coyote and her father, Rodeo, have been traveling the country in an old school bus for that amount of time. It also represents how long ago Coyote’s mother and two sisters died in a vehicle accident.

Coyote hasn’t been home in that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being torn down—the same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a priceless memory box—she comes up with a complex scheme to convince her father to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington State in four days without him knowing.

#11 Saving Ceecee Honeycutt

CeeCee, a 12-year-old, is in difficulty. She had been taking care of her schizophrenic mother, Camille, for years. Camille was the town’s laughingstock, wearing a crown and splattered with lipstick. Camille thinks it’s 1951 and she recently won the title of Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia, even though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio.

CeeCee realizes her mother has gone fully bonkers when she finds Camille in the front yard waving to passing cars while sporting a torn prom dress and tiara. When catastrophe hits, CeeCee is rescued by Tootie Caldwell, a hitherto unidentified great-aunt, who takes her to Savannah. CeeCee is thrust into a perfumed world of wealth and Southern peculiarities within hours of her arrival—a world that seems to be ruled solely by women.

#12 All The Ugly And Wonderful Things

Wavy knows not to put her trust in anyone, not even her own parents because she is the daughter of a meth dealer. Eight-year-old Wavy, who is struggling to raise her younger brother, is the only responsible “adult” in the area. The beautiful Midwestern night sky above the meadows behind her home gives her calm. Everything changes one night when she sees Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a good heart who is one of her father’s thugs, crash his motorcycle. What happens next is a strong and startling love story between two unusual people that raises difficult issues and serves as a reminder of all the good and bad things that life has to offer.

Best Quotes from this Book:

#13 Where Did You Go Bernadette

In 2012, Maria Semple published the epistolary comic book Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The story centers on Bernadette Fox, a mother and agoraphobic architect who vanishes just before a family tour to Antarctica.

Best Quotes from this Book:

#14 A Perfect Marriage

Sally Lachlan has been tormented by a secret for ten years, but maybe it’s ready to let it go. Her longing for love is reawakened by a chance encounter with the charming scientist Anthony Blake, and her daughter Charlie begins to express interest in learning more about her father. Sally loves to avoid thinking about the past and the future, but she must first accept her long-ago marriage if she seeks to know happiness. She won’t be capable of being truthful with Charlie until after that. Likewise, she.

The bestselling author of Stillwater Creek’s captivating new book, A Perfect Marriage, tells a tale of love and tragedy, enduring friendship, and faulty memory. The book also tells a story of forgiveness, of new beginnings, and hopeful expectations.

#15 I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Perfect Mexican daughters don’t go to colleges far away. Additionally, many remain in their parent’s homes even after graduating from high school. Mexican daughters who are perfect never desert their families. Julia, however, is not your ideal Mexican daughter. Olga played that role.

Then, in a devastating accident on Chicago’s busiest roadway, Julia is left to put her family back together after Olga has passed away. Nobody appears to be recognising Julia’s brokenness either. Instead, it looks like her mother uses her sorrow to criticize Julia for all of her shortcomings.

#16 A Little Life

Four college buddies from a small college in Massachusetts travel to New York to try to make it, but they are broke, lost, and supported only by their friendship and drive. In addition to Jude, who acts as their focal point, there is gentle, gorgeous Willem, a budding actor; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prestigious firm; JB, a quick-witted, occasionally nasty painter from Brooklyn; and Malcolm.

Their bonds become stronger and darker over the years, tainted by pride, achievement, and addiction. Their greatest obstacle, however, is Jude himself, who by middle age is a frighteningly talented litigator but who is also becoming increasingly broken. His mind and body have been scarred by a horrific childhood, and he is haunted by a level of trauma that he fears he will not only be unable to overcome but will define his life forever.

#17 The Joy Luck Club

Depending on who is presenting the stories, the history of the four families—four mothers, four daughters—shift with the four winds. Four Chinese women who had recently arrived in San Francisco met each week to play mahjong and share tales of their lives back home in 1949. They refer to themselves as the Joy Luck Club and are united by their grief and newfound optimism for their daughters’ futures. Before their own inner problems expose how much they’ve unintentionally inherited from their moms’ pasts, their daughters, who’ve never heard these stories, believe their mothers’ wisdom is pointless to their modern American lives.

Amy Tan explores the sometimes difficult, frequently emotional, and always a profound bond between mothers and daughters with wit and compassion. The threads become more knotted and intertwined as each lady shares her secrets and tries to piece together the truth about her life. Daughters roll their eyes while also sensing the unbreakable stiffening of their matriarchal links when mothers gloat or lament over their daughters. Tan is a skilled storyteller who tempts readers to delve into these complicated and mysterious lives.

#18 Bridget Jones Diary

“Bridget Jones’ Diary” is the hilariously self-aware daily account of Bridget’s perpetually futile quest for self-improvement. In it, she vows to learn how to program a VCR, lose 1.5 inches from the circumference of each thigh, go to the gym three times a week, and form a solid relationship with a grown person.

Bridget sheds a total of 72 pounds but acquires a total of 74 during the course of the year. She is still upbeat, though. Bridget will keep you in fits of laughter throughout, and like millions of readers everywhere, you’ll find yourself exclaiming, “Bridget Jones is me!”

#19 American Marriage

Celestial and Roy, newlyweds, represent both the New South and the American Dream. She is an artist on the verge of a promising career, and he is a young executive. But just as they become accustomed to their shared life, they are torn apart by events neither could have foreseen. Roy is detained and given a 12-year prison term for a crime Celestial is certain he didn’t commit. Celestial, who prides herself on being extremely independent, feels abandoned and disoriented but seeks solace in Andre, a friend from her youth who served as best man at their wedding. She is unable to cling to the affection that has served as her foundation as Roy’s time in jail progresses. Five years later, Roy’s sentence is unexpectedly reversed, and he heads back to Atlanta prepared to carry on with their relationship.

This passionate love story offers a tremendously illuminating glimpse into the hearts and minds of three individuals who are simultaneously connected and divided by forces outside of their control. A masterwork of narrative, An American Marriage offers a personal glimpse into the lives of those who must face their pasts while looking forward—with both hope and pain—to the future.

#20 Little Fires Everywhere

That summer, it was all the buzz in Shaker Heights how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally turned around and set the home on fire. Everything in Shaker Heights, a serene, forward-thinking Cleveland suburb, is carefully planned, from the design of the meandering roads to the hues of the homes to the prosperous life their occupants will go on to lead. Elena Richardson, whose guiding philosophy is following the rules, most exemplifies this spirit.

Enter Mia Warren, a mysterious artist and single mother who rents a home from the Richardsons when she and her teenage daughter Pearl arrive in this ideal world. All four of the Richardson children are soon drawn to Mia and Pearl beyond their status as tenants. However, Mia brings with her a shadowy past and a disdain for the laws that pose a threat to this orderly neighborhood.