16 Best historical books like The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Cover of The Good Lord Bird by James   McBride

The Good Lord Bird

By: James McBride

4.31

Format: 110 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Color of Water and Song Yet Sung comes the story of a young boy …

If you liked the historical plot in The Good Lord Bird by James McBride , here is a list of 16 books like this:

Cover of The Good Lord Bird by James   McBride

1. The Good Lord Bird

By: James McBride

4.31

Format: 110 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Color of Water and Song Yet Sung comes the story of a young boy … read more

Similar categories in James McBride's The Good Lord Bird book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • african american
  • audiobook

2. Erasure

By: Percival Everett

3.62

Format: 280 pages, Paperback

"Thelonious (Monk) Ellison has never allowed race to define his identity. But as both a writer and … read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's Erasure book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

Cover of Trust by Hernan Diaz

3. Trust

By: Hernan Diaz

3.83

Format: 402 pages, Hardcover

10 hours, 21 minutes From an award-winning chronicler of our nation's history and its legends co… read more

Similar categories in Hernan Diaz's Trust book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
"Where there's a ventriloquist, there's a dummy."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"Chaos is a vortex that spins faster with each thing it swallows."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"Silence between 2 is always shared. But 1 of the 2 owns it and shares it with the other."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

"I’ve come to think one is truly married only when one is more committed to one’s vows than the person they refer to."

-Hernan Diaz, Trust

Cover of Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master by K.  Ritz

4. Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

By: K. Ritz

4.33

Format: 410 pages, Paperback

Synopsis: For five years Me’acca Mysuth Sheever has lived among his “sworn enemies,” pretending to … read more

Similar categories in K. Ritz's Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • historical
  • novels
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
"At what point does faith become insanity?"

-K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

"Which is the greater sin? To care too much? Or too little?"

-K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

"Mead. O sweet elixir, Ye bless the lips and steal the wits. "

-K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

"This world would be a pleasant place if people didn’t inhabit it."

-K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

Cover of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

5. Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett

3.99

Format: 309 pages, Hardcover

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again prov… read more

Similar categories in Ann Patchett's Tom Lake book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
"You can’t pretend this [Covid] isn’t happening,"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"In the summer the pear trees were fine. In the summer, all that is hideous about a pear tree is hidden by leaves and pears. But once those disguises were removed they were nothing but acres of murder…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"Hazel, listen to me. I'm going to tell you something important, you need to be brave.' I then explained to the dog how I have told myself for so many years that my career fell apart because I wasn't …"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"It's as if someone bought all the diamonds at Tiffany's, and crushed them into dust, then spread that dust across the water so that it sifts down evenly, filtering through the shards of light that cu…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

Cover of The Covenant of Water by Abraham   Verghese

6. The Covenant of Water

By: Abraham Verghese

4.45

Format: 724 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial ep… read more

Similar categories in Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

7. Night Watch

By: Jayne Anne Phillips

3.79

Format: 276 pages, Hardcover

In 1874, in the wake of the War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, re… read more

Similar categories in Jayne Anne Phillips's Night Watch book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

8. 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 James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • african american
  • 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 James by Percival Everett

9. James

By: Percival Everett

4.54

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and f… read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's James book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • african american
  • audiobook
Cover of North Woods by Daniel       Mason

10. North Woods

By: Daniel Mason

4.15

Format: 372 pages, Hardcover

A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those … read more

Similar categories in Daniel Mason's North Woods book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of This Other Eden by Paul Harding

11. This Other Eden

By: Paul Harding

3.78

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

Set at the beginning of the twentieth century and inspired by historical events, This Other Eden te… read more

Similar categories in Paul Harding's This Other Eden book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • african american
  • audiobook
Cover of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

12. 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 James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • 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

13. 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 James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"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 The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

14. The Bee Sting

By: Paul Murray

3.96

Format: 656 pages, Hardcover

From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and … read more

Similar categories in Paul Murray's The Bee Sting book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • novels
"It is for love. You are doing this for love."

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"We all have problems. But often instead of accepting the truth about ourselves, we cover it up. We try to make ourselves the way we think we’re expected to be."

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"Maybe every era has an atrocity woven into its fabric. Maybe every society is complicit in terrible things and only afterwards gets around to pretending they didn’t know. When the kids ask, tell them…"

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"Maybe that’s how it will go – instead of one definitive cataclysm, a series of ‘anomalies’, each time lasting longer, with the stretches of what you call normal life becoming further and further apar…"

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

Cover of Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

15. 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 James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • novels
Cover of Absolution by Alice McDermott

16. Absolution

By: Alice McDermott

3.81

Format: 324 pages, Hardcover

A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War. In Saigon in 1963, two yo… read more

Similar categories in Alice McDermott's Absolution book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
Cover of Table for Two by Amor Towles

17. Table for Two

By: Amor Towles

4.26

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a… read more

Similar categories in Amor Towles's Table for Two book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
"And though she couldn’t remember the exact reference and whether it was from mythology or the Bible, she knew instinctively as they approached the pier’s limit she mustn’t look back."

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

"It is a funny aspect of life, thought Charlie, how a group of grown people can convince themselves to do something that none of them really want to do. They start by talking an idea into existence. O…"

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

Cover of The Fraud by Zadie Smith

18. The Fraud

By: Zadie Smith

3.30

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

The extraordinary first historical novel from bestselling author of White Teeth Zadie Smith It i… read more

Similar categories in Zadie Smith's The Fraud book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • novels
  • audiobook
"Eliza had long understood her cousin to be beyond the reach of editorial intervention."

-Zadie Smith, The Fraud

"What possesses people? Unhappiness, always. Happiness is otherwise occupied. It has an object on which to focus. It has daisies, it has snowdrifts. Unhappiness opens up the void, which then requires …"

-Zadie Smith, The Fraud

"I know this country well. Well enough to understand that justice takes time, and that the freedoms of a minority are rarely self-evident to the majority. What is perfectly selfevident to God is – unf…"

-Zadie Smith, The Fraud

"God preserve me from novel-writing, thought Mrs Touchet. God preserve me from that tragic indulgence, that useless vanity, that blindness! In a cold dormitory, two hundred miles away, three heartbrok…"

-Zadie Smith, The Fraud

Cover of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

19. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

By: David Grann

4.19

Format: 331 pages, Hardcover

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story o… read more

Similar categories in David Grann's The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • historical
  • audiobook
Cover of The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

20. The Vaster Wilds

By: Lauren Groff

3.77

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

A taut and electrifying novel from celebrated bestselling author Lauren Groff, about one spirited g… read more

Similar categories in Lauren Groff's The Vaster Wilds book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
"For what is a girl but a vessel made to hold the desires of men."

-Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds

"O put the memory away, girl, she told herself sternly. For the sorrow could eat you entire."

-Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds

"And humans were not made to be always alone; humans survive only in the company of other humans."

-Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds

"Against the resistance of other minds, one's thoughts are pulled out of their comfortable shapes, and true thinking begins."

-Lauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds

Cover of Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2) by Colson Whitehead

21. Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)

By: Colson Whitehead

3.88

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Colson Whitehead continues his Harlem saga in a novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy … read more

Similar categories in Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2) book and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • african american
  • audiobook
"Misery is a money pit."

-Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)

"Step away entirely or you haven't stepped away at all."

-Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)

"White cops did as they pleased. Crooked white cops? Untouchable."

-Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)

"Simpler than conspiracy was Carney's take: In general, people were terrible."

-Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto (Ray Carney, #2)

19 Top fiction books like The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Transform Your Habits

The Good Lord Bird

James McBride

4.31

Transform Your Habits

Trust

Hernan Diaz

3.83

Transform Your Habits

Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

K. Ritz

4.33

Transform Your Habits

Tom Lake

Ann Patchett

3.99

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20 Best fiction books like Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

Transform Your Habits

Wednesday's Child: Stories

Yiyun Li

3.75

Transform Your Habits

Night Watch

Jayne Anne Phillips

3.79

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

North Woods

Daniel Mason

4.15

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