21 best-selling fiction books like What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

Cover of What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

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…

"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

If you liked the fiction plot in What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez , here is a list of 21 books like this:

Cover of Happiness Falls by Angie  Kim

1. Happiness Falls

By: Angie Kim

3.75

Format: 387 pages, Hardcover

When a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they kn… read more

Similar categories in Angie Kim's Happiness Falls book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • family
  • adult
  • audiobook
"I lost a World - the other day! Has Anybody found? - Emily Dickinson, 1896"

-Angie Kim, Happiness Falls

Cover of James by Percival Everett

2. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

3. Margo's Got Money Troubles

By: Rufi Thorpe

3.97

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate ad… read more

Similar categories in Rufi Thorpe's Margo's Got Money Troubles book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"I’m just saying,"

-Rufi Thorpe, Margo's Got Money Troubles

"I fell into a state that, if not sleep, was sleep adjacent."

-Rufi Thorpe, Margo's Got Money Troubles

"It really makes you wonder, what kind of truth would require this many lies to tell?"

-Rufi Thorpe, Margo's Got Money Troubles

"Who cared about sex, really? When what you needed was someone to talk to in the dark."

-Rufi Thorpe, Margo's Got Money Troubles

Cover of Memory Piece by Lisa Ko

4. Memory Piece

By: Lisa Ko

3.22

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

In the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are three teenagers drawn together by th… read more

Similar categories in Lisa Ko's Memory Piece book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"The physicality of making things, the performance, temporarily displaced how stuck she felt, in this particular body, family, town, time."

-Lisa Ko, Memory Piece

Cover of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

5. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • 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 Pineapple Street by Jenny   Jackson

6. Pineapple Street

By: Jenny Jackson

3.57

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected, old money Stockton family, followed her heart, t… read more

Similar categories in Jenny Jackson's Pineapple Street book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"But you know foundations shouldn't have to be the answer. The real problems are tax laws, anti-labor policies, and the slow expansion of the welfare state," Chip said. Everyone turned and looked at h…"

-Jenny Jackson, Pineapple Street

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

7. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • literary fiction
  • adult
  • 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 Real Americans by Rachel Khong

8. Real Americans

By: Rachel Khong

4.04

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny?… read more

Similar categories in Rachel Khong's Real Americans book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"She wasn't normal and so I wasn't either. I resented that part the most."

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

"It was a habit, with my parents: omitting information, not wanting to worry them unnecessarily. Though they’d raised me so American, I could never manage the sorts of American relationships my friend…"

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

"With each other they spoke loudly: Their voices periodically rose to excited shouts, and they laughed raucously. In English they were milder mannered, polite. My mother had always spoken English to m…"

-Rachel Khong, Real Americans

Cover of The Celebrants by Steven  Rowley

9. The Celebrants

By: Steven Rowley

3.64

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselve… read more

Similar categories in Steven Rowley's The Celebrants book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"My purpose, in this life, has been to love and spend it with you."

-Steven Rowley, The Celebrants

"You only live once. That was the truth of it. But if you do it right, and he felt that he had, once is more than enough"

-Steven Rowley, The Celebrants

Cover of Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

10. Come and Get It

By: Kiley Reid

3.38

Format: 400 pages, Hardcover

A fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a profe… read more

Similar categories in Kiley Reid's Come and Get It book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Kennedy hadn't considered it before, that to write something beautiful you just do it regular, and then you pull out a red pen."

-Kiley Reid, Come and Get It

"Washing her sheets was another thing she'd failed to do. She washed her clothes—every weekend—but when it came to the bedsheets, she'd get stressed out or she'd forget. And then there was too much ti…"

-Kiley Reid, Come and Get It

"Okay, sometimes—just being honest— Millie can be . . . a little ghetto." On the word little, Tyler held two fingers an inch apart. "Nooo. Don't say that. Ah love Millie." "But I'm not saying it like …"

-Kiley Reid, Come and Get It

Cover of The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

11. The Half Moon

By: Mary Beth Keane

3.40

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who… read more

Similar categories in Mary Beth Keane's The Half Moon book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • family
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

12. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

13. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • 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 I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

14. I Have Some Questions for You

By: Rebecca Makkai

3.61

Format: 438 pages, Hardcover

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family trag… read more

Similar categories in Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Maame by Jessica George

15. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • 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 Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

16. Banyan Moon

By: Thao Thai

3.92

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

When Ann Tran gets the call that her fiercely beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away, her life … read more

Similar categories in Thao Thai's Banyan Moon book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Through her, I understood that another mother's horror could touch us in the darkest of places, even a world away."

-Thao Thai, Banyan Moon

"Grief is a lake of perilously thin ice. You never know when you'll fall through it, or when you will fight your way back to the surface."

-Thao Thai, Banyan Moon

"My morning swims have centered me and calmed the storm inside my mind. In the water, my memories lose their sharp edges, like river stones forced smooth."

-Thao Thai, Banyan Moon

"I wonder if you can inherit evil.' 'Maybe. Or maybe it's not something you inherit, but something that runs through you, another person's trauma, their violence. It sits below the skin until you name…"

-Thao Thai, Banyan Moon

Cover of Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González

17. Anita de Monte Laughs Last

By: Xóchitl González

3.82

Format: 342 pages, Hardcover

New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-gener… read more

Similar categories in Xóchitl González's Anita de Monte Laughs Last book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • adult
  • audiobook
"we're all just here trying to get you to see your own light because it's strong enough to guide you."

-Xóchitl González, Anita de Monte Laughs Last

"You fall for someone, you get so into them your whole world shrinks, and suddenly barely have a life besides them."

-Xóchitl González, Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Cover of The Three of Us by Ore Agbaje-Williams

18. The Three of Us

By: Ore Agbaje-Williams

2.96

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

Long-standing tensions between a husband, his wife, and her best friend finally come to a breaking … read more

Similar categories in Ore Agbaje-Williams's The Three of Us book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of My Murder by Katie Williams

19. My Murder

By: Katie Williams

3.66

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

What if the murder you had to solve was your own? Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable… read more

Similar categories in Katie Williams's My Murder book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

20. 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 Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • mystery thriller
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • family
  • 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 When Trying to Return Home: Stories by Jennifer Maritza McCauley

21. When Trying to Return Home: Stories

By: Jennifer Maritza McCauley

3.55

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

A dazzling debut collection spanning a century of Black American and Afro-Latino life in Puerto Ric… read more

Similar categories in Jennifer Maritza McCauley's When Trying to Return Home: Stories book and Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook

18 Best contemporary books like What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

Transform Your Habits

Happiness Falls

Angie Kim

3.75

Transform Your Habits

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Rufi Thorpe

3.97

Transform Your Habits

Memory Piece

Lisa Ko

3.22

Transform Your Habits

Wandering Stars

Tommy Orange

3.89

View all the books

21 best-selling fiction books like Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

North Woods

Daniel Mason

4.15

Transform Your Habits

Wandering Stars

Tommy Orange

3.89

Transform Your Habits

Real Americans

Rachel Khong

4.04

View all the books

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