24 must-read contemporary books like When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

Cover of When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

When We Were Sisters

By: Fatimah Asghar

3.93

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

An orphan grapples with gender, siblinghood, family, and coming-of-age as a Muslim in America in th…

If you liked the contemporary plot in When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar , here is a list of 24 books like this:

Cover of Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

1. Let Us Descend

By: Jesmyn Ward

3.70

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congres… read more

Similar categories in Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"You must leap. You must do as your people did. You must sink in order to rise."

-Jesmyn Ward, Let Us Descend

Cover of Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah

2. Calling for a Blanket Dance

By: Oscar Hokeah

4.25

Format: 258 pages, Hardcover

A moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man struggling to find stren… read more

Similar categories in Oscar Hokeah's Calling for a Blanket Dance book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"We danced, the way Kiowas danced, when called by our people, by our ancestors, to help each other heal."

-Oscar Hokeah, Calling for a Blanket Dance

"Driving out of Lawton, I laid my hand onto Ever's quilt and traced my fingertips around the edges of the bird pattern. I couldn't help but wonder, tla, couldn't help but worry: Would my grandson ever…"

-Oscar Hokeah, Calling for a Blanket Dance

Cover of If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

3. If I Survive You

By: Jonathan Escoffery

3.69

Format: 260 pages, Hardcover

In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. … read more

Similar categories in Jonathan Escoffery's If I Survive You book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"What does Whiteness feel like?... I imagine it's like walking barefoot…"

-Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You

"Why don't stars make any sounds in the winter? What sounds? Ethan said."

-Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You

"Every boy deserves to believe him father is good, but if each father were good, we’d be living in a different kind of world."

-Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You

"I imagined I could have begged an old girlfriend from college to send money; enough of them had expressed ambivalence about their trust funds that this seemed a plausible path down which I might drag…"

-Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You

Cover of Family Meal by Bryan Washington

4. Family Meal

By: Bryan Washington

3.56

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot, an irresistible, intimate novel abo… read more

Similar categories in Bryan Washington's Family Meal book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James   McBride

5. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

By: James McBride

4.00

Format: 385 pages, Hardcover

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing de… read more

Similar categories in James McBride's The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Nobody Gets Out Alive: Stories by Leigh  Newman

6. Nobody Gets Out Alive: Stories

By: Leigh Newman

3.79

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE STORY PRIZE Named a BEST BOOK OF 2022 by Oprah Dail… read more

Similar categories in Leigh Newman's Nobody Gets Out Alive: Stories book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

7. Wandering Stars

By: Tommy Orange

3.89

Format: 315 pages, Hardcover

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Pulitzer Prize-finalist Tommy Orange’s breakout best seller There … read more

Similar categories in Tommy Orange's Wandering Stars book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"And in the year 1924 Indian citizenship will have been granted, even though they will mean to dissolve tribes by giving citizenship, dissolve being another word for disappearance, a kind of chemical …"

-Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars

Cover of Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

8. Chain-Gang All-Stars

By: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

4.14

Format: 367 pages, Hardcover

Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far… read more

Similar categories in Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's Chain-Gang All-Stars book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • adult
  • queer
"They were all humans, and yet they had completely different ideas about what humanity meant."

-Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars

"My brother-in-law is an alien. I have a bunch of alien friends. I can't be racist," Randy Mac continued."

-Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars

"An absurd thing for the murderous state to plead for, but, as always, the massive violence of the state was “justice,"

-Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars

"...despite how hard it was, she wasn't afraid with love. She knew how to wield it, how to grow it, and how to receive it."

-Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars

Cover of Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

9. Martyr!

By: Kaveh Akbar

4.24

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves… read more

Similar categories in Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • poetry
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • queer
Cover of The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

10. The Rabbit Hutch

By: Tess Gunty

3.52

Format: 399 pages, Hardcover

Blandine isn't like the other residents of her building. An online obituary writer. A young moth… read more

Similar categories in Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • audiobook
"On the opposite end of the sidewalk, a large woman in her sixties collapsed. Immediately, two people rushed to the woman's side, gingerly tending to her, touching her shoulders and face, speaking to …"

-Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch

"· Las calles por las que caminas, el alimento que comes, el trabajo que haces, el medio de transporte que eliges, los productos de belleza que compras, los programas que ves, los enlaces en los que p…"

-Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch

"Acaba de ponerse a llover. Estamos encantados de que se quede un rato más, si quiere. Milagroso. Joan recuerda que existen los perros, las tiendas de manualidades, los analgésicos, las bibliotecas pú…"

-Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch

"—Estoy harta —dice Blandine— de la violencia contra las mujeres disfrazada de validación. —Lo siento —murmura James de manera automática, pero tiene el gesto de la mascota reprendida que no sabe qué …"

-Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch

Cover of Blackouts by Justin Torres

11. Blackouts

By: Justin Torres

3.77

Format: 306 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of We the Animals, Blackouts mines lost histories--personal and collect… read more

Similar categories in Justin Torres's Blackouts book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • queer
Cover of Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H.

12. Hijab Butch Blues

By: Lamya H.

4.48

Format: 284 pages, Hardcover

A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from storie… read more

Similar categories in Lamya H.'s Hijab Butch Blues book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • lgbt
  • queer
"Sort of?"

-Lamya H., Hijab Butch Blues

"Queer indispensability?"

-Lamya H., Hijab Butch Blues

"I feel tired. Or reckless. Or maybe brave."

-Lamya H., Hijab Butch Blues

"I want to figure her out, this girl, and I want to know everything about her."

-Lamya H., Hijab Butch Blues

Cover of Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

13. Evil Eye

By: Etaf Rum

3.95

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of A Woman Is No Man returns with a striking explor… read more

Similar categories in Etaf Rum's Evil Eye book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"(...) she shrugged to articulate her feelings, even to herself. Words diluted things, made them smaller."

-Etaf Rum, Evil Eye

"Her family had always been told to classify themselves as white because of their Middle Eastern origins. But Yara had never considered herself white or been viewed as white by anyone else, and markin…"

-Etaf Rum, Evil Eye

Cover of Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

14. Family Lore

By: Elizabeth Acevedo

3.53

Format: 371 pages, Hardcover

From bestselling, National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo comes her first novel for ad… read more

Similar categories in Elizabeth Acevedo's Family Lore book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

15. How to Say Babylon

By: Safiya Sinclair

4.47

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s … read more

Similar categories in Safiya Sinclair's How to Say Babylon book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • poetry
  • adult
  • family
  • audiobook
"As I grew older, I knew I would never be his perfect Rasta daughter. I was too headstrong, too curious. Too much of myself, and not enough of him."

-Safiya Sinclair, How to Say Babylon

Cover of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

16. How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

By: Angie Cruz

3.90

Format: 195 pages, Hardcover

Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But whe… read more

Similar categories in Angie Cruz's How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • adult
  • audiobook
"She knew I had to cry until I undrown from the inside."

-Angie Cruz, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

"If you're lucky, you find a man that you don't fall in the hole with."

-Angie Cruz, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

"Lulú talks and talks because she dique knows everything. But when I say something, people listen. This I learned from my father. The less you say, the more the people listen."

-Angie Cruz, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

"Talking reminds me that no matter how difficult my life is, I have always found a solution my problems. When I think about this, I am not afraid. We can do this. I can do this."

-Angie Cruz, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

Cover of Maame by Jessica George

17. Maame

By: Jessica George

4.06

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Shortlisted for the TikTok Book Awards in the Book of the Year, 2023 and the Goodreads Debut and Fi… read more

Similar categories in Jessica George's Maame book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"A white person can date a Black person and still be racist."

-Jessica George, Maame

"I can't comprehend living to work, but then I'm afraid of working just to live."

-Jessica George, Maame

"A white person can date a Black person and still be racist. Because there’s levels to that sh*t. Like a lasagna."

-Jessica George, Maame

"It's about what love is. Which is trust, commitment, empathy, and respect. It means really giving a shit about the other person."

-Jessica George, Maame

Cover of The Late Americans by Brandon  Taylor

18. The Late Americans

By: Brandon Taylor

3.38

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A deeply involving new novel of young men and women at a crossroads In the shared and private sp… read more

Similar categories in Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal

19. Temple Folk

By: Aaliyah Bilal

3.74

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

A groundbreaking debut collection portraying the lived experiences of Black Muslims grappling with … read more

Similar categories in Aaliyah Bilal's Temple Folk book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

20. All This Could Be Different

By: Sarah Thankam Mathews

3.85

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Graduating into the long maw of an American recession, Sneha is one of the fortunate ones. She's mo… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Thankam Mathews's All This Could Be Different book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • queer
"The world has ended a thousand times and my name called in each new book of it."

-Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different

"The world we knew has always been half-terrible, made as it is by the powerful, for the powerful. We were crowning a different one. Its birth would not be easy; no birth was."

-Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different

"This is my tragedy and my great good fortune, to be the recipient of this bond, to be kept alive under its crushing warmth and weight, to be given it so freely, so much more than I have ever deserved."

-Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different

"I use the present tense, but I mean, that’s the way I remember it, and these are the things I learned about it, later, and the two combined have formed my truth of a place. We all have our truth of a…"

-Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different

Cover of Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

21. Land of Milk and Honey

By: C Pam Zhang

3.54

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory… read more

Similar categories in C Pam Zhang's Land of Milk and Honey book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • queer
" Real food is whatever cooks are proud to make. "

-C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

"We all die. We have only the choice, if we are privileged, of whether death comes with a whimper or a bang; of what worlds we taste before we go."

-C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

"My employer was attuned to patterns of human behavior in which he could not take part; because he failed to be swept up in their currents, he could, from his remove, map the tides."

-C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

"What sustains in the end are doomed romances, and nicotine, and crappy peanut butter, damn the additives and cholesterol because life is finite and not all nourishment can be measured."

-C Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey

Cover of A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power

22. A Council of Dolls

By: Mona Susan Power

4.04

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native Amer… read more

Similar categories in Mona Susan Power's A Council of Dolls book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Shame invades one's thoughts like a parasite, twists them like wet laundry until all sense is wrung out."

-Mona Susan Power, A Council of Dolls

"When Winona whispered her memories to me in later years, she said that Whitestone Hill was the day the world ended. I never asked what she meant, how the world could be gone when the sun was still in…"

-Mona Susan Power, A Council of Dolls

Cover of When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

23. When We Were Sisters

By: Fatimah Asghar

3.93

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

An orphan grapples with gender, siblinghood, family, and coming-of-age as a Muslim in America in th… read more

Similar categories in Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • poetry
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • family
  • novels
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman

24. Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

By: Bushra Rehman

3.98

Format: 276 pages, Hardcover

For readers of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and My Brilliant Friend, Bushra Rehman's Roses, in … read more

Similar categories in Bushra Rehman's Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • queer
"I saw my mother shrink in her eyes. I wanted to tell the cashier there were no roaches in Pakistan, but something stopped me."

-Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

"I had a sudden irrational desire to hug her, but there was so much distance between us. My birth had been only the beginning of our separation, the first time I was cut loose. From that moment until …"

-Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

"She stepped inside, and I followed her and my mother up the stairs. My mother had carried me up those stairs as a child. She'd taught me how to walk on them when I'd been a child. I'd swept those sta…"

-Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

Cover of Holler, Child: Stories by LaToya Watkins

25. Holler, Child: Stories

By: LaToya Watkins

4.14

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

An extraordinary and unforgettable short story collection about community, home, betrayal, and forg… read more

Similar categories in LaToya Watkins's Holler, Child: Stories book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

26. Behind You Is the Sea

By: Susan Muaddi Darraj

4.14

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

An exciting debut novel that gives voice to the diverse residents of a Palestinian American communi… read more

Similar categories in Susan Muaddi Darraj's Behind You Is the Sea book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

27. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

By: Claire Jiménez

3.53

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

A deeply powerful, raw debut novel of a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers their lo… read more

Similar categories in Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Irene was my mom's 60 year old church friend who blew her hair out like Whitney Houston from the Bodyguard days and still rocked her rum raisin lipstick like it was 1992."

-Claire Jiménez, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

Cover of What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

28. What We Fed to the Manticore

By: Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

4.11

Format: 200 pages, Paperback

Through nine emotionally vivid stories, all narrated from animal perspectives, Talia Lakshmi Kollur… read more

Similar categories in Talia Lakshmi Kolluri's What We Fed to the Manticore book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The Town of Babylon by Alejandro  Varela

29. The Town of Babylon

By: Alejandro Varela

3.96

Format: 308 pages, Hardcover

In this contemporary debut novel—an intimate portrait of queer, racial, and class identity —Andrés,… read more

Similar categories in Alejandro Varela's The Town of Babylon book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • queer
Cover of The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai

30. The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

By: Jamil Jan Kochai

3.99

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A luminous meditation on sons and fathers, ghosts of war, and living history that moves between mod… read more

Similar categories in Jamil Jan Kochai's The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Why must we always ruin what is beautiful with what is true?"

-Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

"Agha's one of those OG Pashtuns who'd argue with Allah over the nature of existence."

-Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

Cover of The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones

31. The Birdcatcher

By: Gayl Jones

3.04

Format: 216 pages, Hardcover

Legendary writer Gayl Jones returns with a stunning new novel about Black American artists in exile… read more

Similar categories in Gayl Jones's The Birdcatcher book and Fatimah Asghar's When We Were Sisters

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"You cannot grow without growing inside."

-Gayl Jones, The Birdcatcher

29 Best fiction books like When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

Transform Your Habits

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward

3.70

Transform Your Habits

Calling for a Blanket Dance

Oscar Hokeah

4.25

Transform Your Habits

If I Survive You

Jonathan Escoffery

3.69

Transform Your Habits

Family Meal

Bryan Washington

3.56

View all the books

17 Best fiction books like Holler, Child: Stories by LaToya Watkins

Transform Your Habits

The End of Drum-Time

Hanna Pylväinen

3.94

Transform Your Habits

Night Watch

Jayne Anne Phillips

3.79

Transform Your Habits

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward

3.70

Transform Your Habits

Wandering Stars

Tommy Orange

3.89

View all the books

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