Eight Small Town Stories I Loved | Reading Recommendations

[@bmaei5]

Small town novels 1. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton 2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 3. Love by Hanne Orstavik 4. A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews 5. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson 6. Stoner by John Williams 7. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas 8. Train Dreams by Denis Johnston 9. The Blue Fox by Sjon 10. Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patrick Cottrell 11. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor 12. The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier

[@talithareads]

I'm currently reading 'The smell of other people's houses' and I would highly recommend it. It's set is Alaska and part of it is in a small community. It reminds me a lot of 'The road to dalton', both in structure and writing style.

[@lesliegraham8478]

Small Things Like These. The best.

[@gatitamarra]

Mercedes I love your specific recommendations videos! I want to read all of these, but especially The Road to Dalton and The Coast Road. I think I'll borrow them from my library soon. Thanks so much for all your videos!

[@joanherman6180]

I loved both History of the Rain and This Is Happiness, and you do not need to read them in order. Williams’s sentences are so beautiful that I found myself rereading them throughout both books.

[@jorjastonej]

What a lovely niche feature. Thank you!

[@heyitssuz]

I think you would enjoy Margaret Laurence's Manawaka series (especially The Diviners and A bird in the house) set in a fictional Manitoba town. All the main characters are women and it's an incredibly complex look at the socio-cultural hierarchy of the region, with bits of Canadian history and the lives of girls and women among it all.

[@carolewatson2113]

Early morning riser by Katherine Heiny is very small town and wonderful

[@unboundbookishnotions7373]

Ugh, I missed These Small Things while it was in theaters. It didn't stay long in the part of the US where I live. I cannot wait to see what Killian Murphy does with that character. I listened to the book and it was fantastic. 😍

[@karenburchill3856]

You should try Nora Webster and The Blackwater Lightship both by Colm Toibin. Both excellent

[@melaniedenton9241]

Love the sound of your recommendations. Beartown by Frederik Backman is a great small town story set in Sweden.

[@Ali-AvidReader]

Great video, I’ve read quite of few of these, need to read Fire Exit as it sounds up my street.

[@Caperhere]

I’ve listened to Olive Kitteridge twice. Really enjoyed it.

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

The coastal town depicted in The Coast Road is Killybegs. A big fishing port. A great debut. The House of Broken Bricks is on my TBR. Fire Exit is a book I want to read. Upcountry is now on my radar. All the others I’ve read. Recommend This Is Happiness ( set in Kerry in 1960s) Niall Williams . I don’t think they need to be read in order. Have you read Factory Girl ? There’s also a detective series by Andrea Carter set in InnisOwen in Donegal. The first book is Death at Whitewater Church.

[@lakesyful]

Will I ever make it through one of your videos without buying a book? Time will tell

[@bebebrownsdollhaul6444]

This really made me think. I am intrigued by all these stories that you have recommended. I looked back over my year and realized I am more of an individual character or one family reader. It made me wonder if this was a part of my love for feminist characters. I suppose you could say that the women’s prison in Affinity by Sara Waters is a community and exists in a town. I recently read Our Town by Thornton Wilder because I loved Tom Lake so much. I did love it too. Otherwise I had to go back to my reading of Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez. Also, the House on Mango Street by Cisneros and of course Shakespeare plays had this feel for me. Right now I am starting Lonesome Dove because it is beloved for its small town by even those who don’t love westerns. It’s taking me a long time to get into it but I think it will be worth it. Again, thank you for these fabulous thought provoking videos. P. S.: my favorite small town obsession is a tv series called Glitch. I am so fascinated with small towns that are sort of creepy, hard to leave, and everyone knows if there is an outsider nearby. I think the zombie stories are built around these needs we have to explore community. I like your passion about the specificity of your reading taste.

[@karenmiller1105]

Wow. So many books sound good. I think I will actually try almost all of them. Thanks so much.

[@joyh.8268]

Mercedes, thanks for providing some excellent options for my tbr! The Road to Dalton is on the top of my list for 2025. Two of my favorite books with strong small town vibes are Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry and This Green and Pleasant Land by Ayisha Malik. I also love the very popular book, Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for its small island community members.

[@cheryllovestoread]

I hope we get to see more of Dalton!

[@seanoconnor2865]

Loved Empire Falls, but Russo's other book, Straight Man is great, too. Empire revolves around a diner in a failing small New England town. Straight revolves around a lowly college in western Pennsylvania and faculty politics. The main character in Straight reads like The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Empire is darker, but still humorous. I guess Russo's most famous for Nobody's Fool, adapted into a movie with Paul Newman - which I liked. He's a new favorite author of mine and I'll read anything he writes.

[@ritas140]

Plainsong by Kent Haruf sounds like it might be a good read for youb

[@louistomliinson]

Not a small town book but more of a slice of life book, I just read Close to Home by Michael Magee and think you might like it