Books like Independence day by Richard Ford

A surreal, anti‑war tale that follows Billy Pilgrim as he stumbles into time travel and the fire‑bombing of Dresden during World War II.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece examines the glittering yet hollow glamour of the Roaring Twenties as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby pursues love, wealth, and identity across the social divide.

A weary father and his young son journey across a bleak, post‑apocalyptic America, battling cannibals, starvation, and a harsh winter in a desperate quest for safety and a glimpse of remaining civilization.

John Steinbeck's sweeping family saga set in California's Salinas Valley, spanning generations of the Trask and Hamilton families as they confront the struggle between good and evil, with biblical echoes of Cain and Abel.

A nonfiction novel chronicling the adventures of a group of friends on their cross-country journey of discovery, featuring characters like Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as real-life friends Neal Casady.

John Kennedy Toole’s comic novel follows the eccentric, obese Ignatius J. Reilly as he roams the streets of New Orleans in vivid, hilariously authentic dialogue.

The Bell Jar is the sole novel by Sylvia Plath, a psychologically intense and autobiographical look at a young woman’s decline into mental illness.

A devoted dog reflects on life, love, and racing while watching his owner, a race car driver, navigate family trials and professional ambition.

In early 1980s Los Angeles, a privileged youth returns home for Christmas, confronting a generation steeped in excess, drugs, and nihilism as he navigates love, friendship, and moral decay.

Reverend John Ames, an aging Iowa preacher, writes a memoir to his young son, reflecting on his own life, his father's pacifism, his grandfather's abolitionist past, and the complex bond between fathers and sons.

Laurent Groff explores a 24‑year marriage through two perspectives, revealing that secrets, not always truths, can sustain intimacy and ultimately test the limits of partnership.

After his parents are jailed for a bank robbery, fifteen‑year‑old Dell Parsons moves to Saskatchewan, where he is taken in by Arthur Remlinger, a man whose hidden darkness challenges Dell’s quest for grace and peace.

Steve York tackles a 100‑page writing assignment to earn high school graduation while reconciling with his famous astronaut father—a journey that confronts past mistakes and redefines his future.

A divorced man seeks solace in a new relationship but finds himself in a series of disastrous events.

Former jazz musician and Memphis bar owner John Nickel, a devoted father, hires white waitress Fay Taft. Their intertwined lives explore parenthood, race, and belonging in the southern United States.

Olive Kitteridge follows a retired teacher in a small Maine coastal town as she navigates love, loss and the quiet complexities of middle‑age life.

"Dewey Andreas, former Delta and newly recruited intelligence agent, is sidelined after screwing up his last two operations. Still drowning in grief after the tragic murder of his fiance;, Dewey has seemingly lost his focus, his edge, and the confidence of his superiors. A high level Russian hacker, known only as Cloud, is believed to be routing large amounts of money to various Al Qaeda terror cells, and the mission is to capture and render harmless Cloud. At the same time, a back-up team is sent after the only known associate of Cloud, a ballerina believed to be his girlfriend. Unwilling to sit out the mission as ordered, Dewey defies his superiors, and goes rogue, surreptitiously following and tracking the two teams. What should be a pair of simple snatch and grab operations, goes horribly wrong--both teams are ambushed and wiped out. Only through the unexpected intervention of Dewey does the ballerina survive. On the run, with no back-up, Cloud's girlfriend reveals a shocking secret--a plot so audacious and deadly that their masterminds behind it would risk anything and kill anybody to prevent its exposure. It's a plot that, in less than three days, will completely remake the world's political landscape and put at risk every single person in the Western world. With only three days left, Dewey Andreas must unravel and stop this plot or see everything destroyed. A plot that goes live on July 4th--Independence Day"--

A son uncovers his WWII veteran father's hidden past—letters, a court-martial, and a concentration‑camp rescue—forcing him to confront buried family secrets and the true story of the man he never knew.

In 1950s America, Frank and April Wheeler build a suburban dream, only to confront the crushing reality that their hopes and marriage are unsustainable, exposing the quiet torment of suburban life and the cost of chasing greatness.

Four sorority sisters reunite thirty years after a single spring break at Nag's Head, North Carolina, to confront the passion, pain, and betrayals that shaped their lives.