Books like The Thing About December by Donal Ryan

Craig of the Mohicans, a frontier scout turns away from civilization, forming a bond with a Mohican warrior as they escort two sisters across the perilous wilderness of America's frontier.

A young man searches for his mysterious father in Tokyo's underworld, finding more than he bargained for.

When thirteen‑year‑old orphan Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor in 1842, she discovers a village shrouded in a centuries‑old feud, a myth of a Moon Princess and a little white horse, and a destiny to restore peace to the valley.

After a series of painful setbacks, Yasmen and Josiah Wade rebuild their lives by co‑parenting, running a business, and confronting the possibility of a second chance at love.

A young woman wrestles with the legacy of her brother’s childhood brain tumor while navigating a 20‑year arc of family tension, isolation and the strict Catholic culture of a rural Irish farming community.

A moving portrait of the Hegarty family as Dublin siblings gather for the wake of their drowned brother Liam, revealing buried secrets that span three generations of Irish life.

In an unnamed city, a young woman’s quiet life is upended when a paramilitary figure known as 'the Milkman' begins to chase her, turning her ordinary days into a tense struggle for safety and privacy.

A Modern-Day Gunfighter and a Woman's Touch in the Colorado Wilds

SOME THINGS CHANGE FOR THE BEST The one thing that bothered Sandy about the opening of school was that her mother had chosen the most important year of Sandy's life to make her different. She wanted Sandy to take several despised business courses to prepare for a job, when all Sandy wanted to do was to prepare for college with the rest of her friends. Then a tall, dark-eyed boy in her shorthand class opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Being "different," Sandy found, had its advantages after all . . . . [text from book jacket] **Text from book flier:** When Sandy's mother insisted that she take a despised business course, Sandy was sure it would be very boring. Then Robb, a tall, dark-haired boy in her shorthand class opened up a whole new world. Whoever said that you can't combine business with pleasure?

Three men—one from war-torn Syria, one Irish small‑towner, and one cunning gambler—each confront loss and longing as they seek a lost sense of home.

"Spanning thirty years, The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, matriarch of the Madigans, a family on the cusp of either coming together or falling irreparably apart."--Dust jacket flap. Rosaleen is matriarch of the Madigans, a family on the cusp of either coming together or falling irreparably apart. As they grew up, Rosaleen's four children left the west of Ireland for lives they could have never imagined in Dublin, New York, and Mali, West Africa. In her early old age their difficult, wonderful mother announces that she's decided to sell the house and divide the proceeds. Her adult children come back for a last Christmas, with the feeling that their childhoods are being erased, their personal history bought and sold.

Holly was thrilled to have handsome Bob Anderson as her student soccer coach. But when he cancelled two of their practice sessions, she worried. Was he really interested in her or was he only playing the field. [text from book flier]

A father's redemption story in Mississippi's heartland, filled with crime, family drama, and the weight of lost love.

Melody Shee, a 33‑year‑old teacher, discovers she is pregnant by a 17‑year‑old Traveller boy, Martin Toppy, while her husband Pat abandons her. With Robbie’s support, she confronts past secrets and future uncertainty.

Dad is a novel by William Wharton that delves into the bond between a father and son, and the challenges of aging parents in an intimate portrait of family dynamics that captures both affection and tension.

An unofficial rose follows nine intertwined characters, each seeking love while navigating affection, lust, and disillusion, revealing how their actions constantly shape one another’s destinies.

In the midst of Ireland’s 2008 financial collapse, rural Tipperary residents navigate new uncertainties, revealing how the national crisis touches even the most remote communities.