By Collection Management Librarian Kathy
I love how much our community uses the library. Sometimes that means waiting for the hottest titles. Don’t fret! I can help you find a similar reading experience to THAT book you are waiting for or that you finally read and loved.
Anxious People read-alikes
jQuery(“#collectionSpotlight194”).iFrameResize(); setSpotlightSizing = function(iframe, OutsidePadding){ originalWidth = jQuery(iframe).width(); wasResized = false; jQuery(window).resize(function(){ resizeSpotlightWidth(iframe, OutsidePadding); }).resize(); }; resizeSpotlightWidth = function(iframe, padding){ if (padding == undefined) padding = 4; var viewPortWidth = jQuery(window).width(), newWidth = viewPortWidth – 2*padding, width = jQuery(iframe).width(); if (width > newWidth) { wasResized = true; return jQuery(iframe).width(newWidth); } if (wasResized && originalWidth + 2*padding < viewPortWidth){ wasResized = false; return jQuery(iframe).width(originalWidth); } };The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
Why you should try it: This tender (obviously) and funny novel also has a cast of characters that never expected to be in the situation they find themselves.
Description: At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left–he’s had three heart attacks already. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Why you should try it: While not a bank robber, title character Jolene is also quite inept. Her “helpful” strangers are her coworkers. This is sure to scratch the humor with a dose of empathy itch.
Description: As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text color to white so no one can see. That is until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions. When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job.
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Why you should try it: Like Fredrik Backman, Liane Moriarty combines literary fiction, suspense, and humor in a similar setup—strangers thrown together.
Description: Gathering at a remote health resort for a 10-day fitness program, nine strangers and their enigmatic host become subjects of interest to a brokenhearted novelist who develops uncomfortable doubts about the resort’s real agenda.
Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman
Why you should try it: While Judy is only one anxious person, not eight, her story is told with similar wit and heft.
Description: A once-promising children’s book writer navigates the humbling realities of middle age and dysfunctional family life while pursuing well-intentioned but increasingly disastrous changes.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
Why you should try it: McBride inserts humor into his weighty novel and, like Backman, is a master of characterization whether major or minor players.
Description: In the aftermath of a 1969 Brooklyn church deacon’s public shooting of a local drug dealer, the community’s African-American and Latinx witnesses find unexpected support from each other when they are targeted by violent mobsters.
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe by Romain Puértolas
Why you should try it: For the title alone, which is indicative of the compelling and satirical story lying within.
Description: A U.S. release of a best-selling debut from France finds a con artist from India traveling to France to shop at IKEA and unwittingly embarking on a European tour during which he makes friends in unlikely places.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Why you should try it: Both books are quirky and humorous but with a heart of gold.
Description: Agreeing to help her former college roommate care for two stepchildren who possess the ability to spontaneously combust when agitated, Lillian endeavors to keep her young charges cool in the face of an astonishing revelation.
About Kathy
Kathy is a Collection Management Librarian who loves reading, sharing, and talking about books. Her missions in life are to create communities of readers, convince folks that her official title should be “Book Pusher,” and refute that “disco” is a dirty word.