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Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to join together with family and friends to pause, reflect, and be thankful! But let’s be honest, Thanksgiving can also be a stressful time when it comes to preparing the feast or traveling through crowded airports and across snowy roads. And then, of course, there are those tricky family dynamics. This great list of Thanksgiving books for adults will help you celebrate while also taking a little time for yourself!
Book Club Books For Thanksgiving
These are highly-rated novels that make for great group discussions. Each of these books features an important scene that takes place at Thanksgiving, but the holiday is not the main focus of the book.
If you’re looking for a fully Thanksgiving-themed book, skip down to the next two sections of the list.
Such a Fun Age
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
This novel focuses on the intertwined relationship between Alix, a successful white woman, and Emira, her toddler’s 25-year-old black babysitter.
When Emira visits Alix’s neighborhood high-end grocery store, an overzealous security guard believes she’s kidnapped Briar, Alix’s daughter. The encounter between Emira and the guard is filmed, making Emira both angry and embarrassed. Alix is also upset and determined to do something, but then the viral video brings something from her own past to light.
The Book Girls Say…
A pivotal scene in this popular contemporary fiction happens around the Thanksgiving table, so if it’s been on your TBR list, this is a great time to pick it up!
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Eliza Starts a Rumor
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Eliza is a suburban wife secretly struggling with a new, intense fear of leaving her house. She forces herself to go to the store in preparation for a visit from her college-age children. While there, she hears younger moms talking about a new local online forum for women. Eliza has run a similar group for years, but these strangers call her original group boring.
In a moment of desperation and weakness, Eliza starts a rumor about a new neighbor on her board to liven it up. But soon, the rumor has reached further than she expected.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is a great mix of comedy and drama about a group of neighbors overcoming their individual problems when they’re willing to share them and lean on other women.
Most of this book is set in the fall leading up to Thanksgiving, which ends up being the setting of a major revelation.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
25 Books About Friendship for Adults
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Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults
The Briar Club
Book Summary
The Briar Club begins with a murder on Thanksgiving in 1954.
Briarwood House is an all-female boardinghouse in Washington DC, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. It’s 1950 when the mysterious widow Grace moves into the attic. She throws attic-room dinner parties for her new friends, including a beautiful English wife and mother, a police officer’s daughter who is involved with a gangster, a baseball star frustrated with the end of the female league after WW2, and a woman who threw herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.
While Grace’s dinner parties are healing to the women, she also has her own secrets…and there may be an enemy within the group.
The Book Girls Say…
Kate Quinn is a book club favorite for a reason! Her historical fiction novels include mystery and thriller elements to keep the pages turning. They also provide plenty of topics for discussion, including the McCarthyism Era.
Threshing of Straw
Book Summary
Set during Thanksgiving week of 1962, this novel tells the story of a family torn apart by secrets.
Macey was just nine years old when her mom put her on a bus to her grandma’s far and told her to wait at the station to be picked up.
Her grandma is keeping secrets from her mama. Her mom keeps secrets from her. And her father is so lost in the memories of the Korean War that he even keeps secrets from himself.
Now Macey has a terrible secret of her own. Is this is a secret she is meant to keep, or one she should tell?
Big Chicas Don’t Cry
Book Summary
This novel follows four Mexican-American cousins through a year of ups and down with their careers, love lives, and relationships with each other.
As children, the cousins are very close – sharing secrets, traditions, and a fierce love for their abuelita. But, the divorce of Mari’s parents seperates the girls for the first time. Fifteen years later, they each have their own adult problems. While their lives have been seperate for over a decade, they reunite at a Thanksiving dinner after a devasting loss.
The Book Girls Say…
While this book is highly-rated overall, some readers feel the writing it too simplistic for their preferences.
The Editor
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
After years of struggling to make it as a writer, James has finally sold his first book – a semi-autobiographical novel about his dysfunctional relationship with his mother. He’s shocked to find out that the editor who has purchased his book is none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
After an embarrassing initial meeting, James and Mrs. Onassis, as she’s known around the office, form an unexpected friendship. As work on the book progresses, Jackie suggests the only way to get the ending to the book right is for James to spend time with his own mother. And that’s where Thanksgiving comes in!
By the time his book is finally published, his relationship with his editor has changed him as a writer and as a son.
The Book Girls Say…
It can be tricky to write historical fiction in which one of the main characters is a famous, real-life person. While Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis did, in fact, work as a book editor at Viking Press and Doubleday after her second husband’s death, Steven Rowley did a fantastic job portraying his fictionalized Jackie O as a private, professional woman full of heart.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books with Characters in Their 20s
Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults
The Accidental Tourist
Book Summary
This Pulitzer finalist was initially published in 1985 and became a popular movie in 1988. The fact that it’s still easily accessible in reprint over 30 years later is telling!
Travel writer Macon Leary is not what you’d expect a travel writer to be. He hates anything outside the norm and away from his home, including travel. Things get even worse after his wife leaves him. Macon intends to remain isolated and alone at home. Then, a peculiar dog trainer works her way into his life and helps him re-engage with life. Thanksgiving happens in Chapter 10, including planning for the day and the big dinner.
Anne Tyler also authored another book – A Patchwork Planet – that includes a dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinner.
The Book Girls Say…
Keep in mind that Anne Tyler writes character-driven fiction, so if you’re looking for a fast-paced plot, this may not be for you.
As of 9/22/2023, the audiobook of Accidental Tourist is included with an Audible subscription.
Penelope in Retrograde
Book Summary
Penelope is a romance writer with a passion for astrology. She’s estranged from her family, but reluctantly travels home for Thanksgiving, hoping to make amends. She gave up on fitting in with her high-achieving family years ago, but when her new business venture—a romance bookstore—is at risk of closing before its doors have opened, she’s forced to ask for help from the one place she never expected.
While Penelope has mentally prepared for a typical Thanksgiving with her difficult family, she does not expect her ex-husband to re-enter her life. She only has four days to repair her family relationships, save the bookstore, and create her own happily every after.
Book Summary
Fifth-generation cider-maker Sanna is devoted to her family’s struggling orchard. However, her brother is pushing their father to sell the land.
Single dad Isaac packed up his son Sebastian and headed across the country to keep him safe. When chance leads him to Sanna’s orchard, his help with the apple trees becomes essential, and it feels more like fate that he arrived when he did.
However, Isaac and Sebastian’s arrival also complicates Sanna’s life, especially when an outside threat comes to the farm.
The Book Girls Say…
This contemporary romance culminates at a Thanksgiving meal. It also includes a dash of magical realism.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Gardening Novels: Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, & Classic
Billy Lynn’s Big Halftime Walk
Book Summary
This literary satire takes place during a Dallas Cowboy’s Thanksgiving day football game. SPC Billy Lynn, a 19-year-old, silver-star-recipient, and seven other members of the Bravo company are to be honored at half-time for their service in the Iraq War. These surviving Bravo members were sent on a promotional “victory tour” after an embedded news crew caught their last hellish battle in Iraq on video. But their return home is temporary, they’ll soon be back in Iraq.
The book explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. The festive environment, including a performance by Destiny’s Child, doesn’t stop introspective Billy from considering America and its values. There is a 2016 movie of the same name.
The Gifted School
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
This juicy contemporary drama focuses on four families that have been friends since their children were born. However, secrets and resentments were buried along the way.
Early in the book, we are introduced to each of these families as they discuss a new, exclusive school that will be opening in the town of Crystal, Colorado (which many readers will recognize as a slightly fictionalized version of Boulder, CO). What starts as good intentions is quickly derailed by very questionable actions as they each fight to get their kids into the new school. These ambitious parents will go to any length to secure a spot for their children. Along the way, secrets and lies will resurface in explosive ways.
This novel explores issues of talent versus privilege, achievement versus potential, and the pursuit of prestige at any cost.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is on the longer side, and it may take several chapters to keep the large cast of characters straight, but it’s worth sticking with it, and the narration is well done! The storyline may be most relatable to parents of school-aged kids. Angela and her husband both enjoyed it!
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Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults
Get Lucky
Book Summary
Sarah suspects that some of the bad decisions she has made may actually be good decisions in disguise. After forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she’s now jobless and has plenty of time to visit her sister, Mackie, in Houston for Thanksgiving.
When she arrives, Mackie has her own problems, she’s planning on selling everything she bought for her baby nursery after years of infertility. But this gives Sarah an idea that could fix everyone’s problems! Can the younger sister save the day and change her own luck along the way?
Lease on Love
Book Summary
When Sadie doesn’t get the promotion she both needs and expects, she immediately adds three things to her to-do list – a drink, a one-night stand, and a new place to live. Unfortunately, she tackles these tasks in the wrong order. The drinks turn into Sadie mixing up a dating app and a roommate app. Whoops!
Jack has been dealing with the unexpected death of his parents by escaping into movies and video games alone. After hearing her story, he offers Sadie the spare bedroom in his gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone at an excellent price.
The cheap rent lets her grow her former-side business into a full-time gig. But how long can these polar opposites happily co-exist in one house?
The Book Girls Say…
This is a lighter pick for fans of the rom-com genre, but it still addresses some deeper issues that make for good discussion. By the time these characters gather for Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll feel a solid connection to each of them.
Book Summary
This gripping psychological thriller begins with three sets of friends gathering for a Thanksgiving retreat in Jamaica. But they are each hiding something – painful childhood memories, an affair, alcohol abuse, and a string of devastating miscarriages.
As their secrets are revealed, they threaten to destroy them. Things only get worse when Rose and Brandon’s three-year-old daughter goes missing from her bed in the vacation villa.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers describe this as an addictive suspense novel that will leave you wondering what the heck you’ve just read. It’s said to be perfect for fans of The Guest List and The Sister-in-Law.
If you enjoy mysteries but prefer them on the lighter side, check out the Thanksgiving-themed cozy mysteries in the final section of this list.
Thanksgiving Themed Books for Adults
While the Thanksgiving Book Club Books section of this post above contains books with Thanksgiving scenes, these Thanksgiving reads are focused more on the holiday. Whether you want a classic, a funny rom-com to relieve turkey day stress or a book that discusses the origins of the holiday, you’ll find them in this section of our book list.
This Land is Their Land
Book Summary
While the rest of our list is fiction, including some very light, entertaining picks, we wanted to include one solid non-fiction for anyone wanting to learn more about the history of Thanksgiving. We selected This Land is Their Land, which was published in 2019, right before the 400th Anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock.
The book focuses on the Wampanoag Indian tribe, starting with the relationship and alliance between the chief and Plymouth’s governor, John Carver, which led to a successful harvest and the first Thanksgiving. You’ll learn about the next 50 years of uneasy peace between the tribe and the local government, which ended in 1675. Silverman explores the tensions before, during, and after the treaty in this well-researched book.
The author was determined to remain neutral in tone and focus on historically documented facts, which is an asset but also creates a more scholarly style instead of reading like fiction. That makes it a longer read, so we recommend picking it up a bit at a time in conjunction with other books versus sitting down to read straight through.
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living
Book Summary
Livvy is a talented pastry chef at an exclusive Boston dinner club. Unfortunately, her career goes up in flames when she manages to flambé not just a dessert but the entire building. Needing to get out of town, she heads north to Vermont and the comfort of her best friend. She doesn’t intend to stay long, but that all changes when she’s offered a job at the Sugar Maple Inn. The owner of the Sugar Maple hopes that Livvy can help her reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status in the apple pie contest at the county fair.
Livvy and her dog, Salty, move into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property. She loves creating mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie, and she soon finds herself immersed in small-town life. She hits it off with Martin McCraken, a Guthrie native who has recently returned home to care for his father.
Soon, there’s another new arrival in town that makes Livvy question if she really belongs in Guthrie after all.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel is described as a perfect mix of Gilmore Girls, the 1980’s Diane Keaton movie Baby Boom, and the Broadway musical Waitress. What could be better than that?
Although some versions of the book cover look Christmasy, reviewers say this book has major New England autumn vibes, with Thanksgiving playing an important role.
Like all good foodie books, this one will make you hungry, so grab a warm pastry and a cup of hot apple cider before curling up under a cozy blanket.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
A Lakeside Thanksgiving
Book Summary
Barbara and her sisters have come together to work at their grandmother’s Lakeside Inn in Montana, and she’s enjoying it more than she thought. Although, it’s been tough juggling remotely working for her job in San Diego and planning her sister’s wedding. Plus, it’s now the inn’s slow season, and she needs to put her marketing skills to use to bring in new customers quickly.
Theo is a new arrival from New York. He’s an award-winning journalist, but something happened to destroy his reputation. He’s come to Sapphire Bay to start a community radio station and escape his problems. When his new station is in jeopardy, he needs Barbara’s help.
The Book Girls Say…
Each of the four books in the Return to Sapphire Bay series follows a different sister. While the publisher says that A Lakeside Thanksgiving works well as a stand-alone, some readers find the quartet more enjoyable in order.
Book Summary
If you’ve read any of the Stephanie Plum series, you know that Janet Evanovich specializes in adding laugh-out-loud, over-the-top situations to daily life. In this quick read, the main characters have the ultimate meet-cute when a rabbit begins chewing on the bottom of Megan’s skirt. She’s ready to yell at the rabbit’s owner, but quickly changes her mood when she finds out he’s a handsome doctor.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel was published in 1988, and it’s age shows a bit in its style, but it’s a fun option if you’re looking for a very light and funny romance with cheesy Hallmark movie vibes. On the other hand, skip it if you’re looking for something deeper or literary.
Book Summary
While Louisa May Alcott is best known and loved for her novel, Little Woman, she was also a short story writer. One of her most popular short stories focuses on Thanksgiving. When their mother is called away, the children attempt to make the full dinner. If you’re yearning for a short, sweet story set in a simpler time, grab this classic!
A Vineyard Thanksgiving
Book Summary
Charlotte was widowed last year, and each day feels just as hard as the first. After the loss of her husband, she’s struggling to get out of bed each day, let alone keep up with the demands of her busy Martha’s Vineyard wedding planning business that she runs with the help of her 14-year-old daughter.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, Charlotte is asked to plan a multi-million-dollar celebrity wedding… and fast! It’s the kind of wedding that will get major press and could really put her business on the map. But with much of her normal staff off the island for the winter, can she pull it together in time?
Somewhere between Thanksgiving dinner and the cake-cutting on Saturday night, she just might find a new love of her own.
The Book Girls Say…
This wholesome holiday romance is the fourth book in the Vineyard Sunset series, but it reads well as a standalone novel. The other three books feature the three Sheridan sisters, while this book is about their cousin, Charlotte.
A Match Made for Thanksgiving
Book Summary
This rom-com is part of a holiday series featuring the endearing Wong family. The parents set up blind dates for all three of their children for Thanksgiving. This is the first book in the series and focuses on the party boy and advertising executive Nick.
The woman the Wongs selected for Nick’s brother just happens to be Lily, who was Nick’s latest one-night stand. He hasn’t been able to forget her, unlike his normal flings. While Nick didn’t come home with the intention of settling down, he might be changing his mind…
The Book Girls Say…
Fair warning, this one kicks off with a very steamy open-door scene in the first chapter! But in just 100 pages, the author creates characters with much more depth than you might expect. If rom-coms are your jam, this one will have you reaching for seconds (as in the second book in the series).
Keep in mind that this book is set in Canada, where Thanksgiving takes place in October. Otherwise, some of the timeline references can get confusing.
Apples Should Be Red
Book Summary
This rom-com novella serves up the perfect enemies-to-lovers recipe for Thanksgiving dinner. Start with a politically incorrect, chain-smoking, cussing, cranky 62-year-old. Add one pearl-clutching, 59-year-old know-it-all. Mix with a beer can-turkey, a dash of the nudist next-door neighbor. Serve on paper plates and garnish with a garden gnome.
The Book Girls Say…
This humorous novel packs a lot into 86 short pages, but it’s not for the faint of heart. Steer clear of this pick if you prefer books that are free of profanity and steamy scenes.
Book Summary
This book contains three stories from the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, including The Thanksgiving Visitor. The story features the same autobiographical characters from A Christmas Memory – 9-year-old Buddy and Miss Sook, his eccentric elderly cousin who is also his best friend.
Buddy is bullied every day on his way to school, so Miss Sook decides to solve the problem by inviting the bully to their big country Thanksgiving feast.
Thanksgiving Cozy Mysteries
These cozy mystery Thanksgiving books make the perfect quick reads during a busy holiday season, and they lean pretty heavily into the theme. Most of the Thanksgiving cozy mystery books on our list are part of a longer series. While they read well as standalones, we’ve included notes about each series in case you want to continue with the characters.
Book Summary
Mae is determined to stay in shape for her wedding, which isn’t easy with all the Thanksgiving desserts Mary Elizabeth makes. To burn some extra calories, Mae joins the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot race but never suspects murder will be involved.
The list of suspects isn’t brief, and Mae already had a lot on her plate with wedding planning, but an investigation may be just the break she needs to distract herself from the stress of her upcoming nuptials.
Still Life
Book Summary
The first book in the popular Inspector Gamache series kicks off on Thanksgiving weekend in the small Canadian town of Three Pines. Beloved local artist Jane Neal is murdered and found in the woods. It is a huge shock to a town so crime-free that it doesn’t even have a police officer.
If you’re a fan of mysteries and haven’t read this series, be warned that you might get hooked. Book 18 was released in late 2022.
The Book Girls Say…
Be aware that the Inspector Gamache series is more of a hybrid cozy-thriller. It’s grittier with deeper topics than most cozies, but at the same time, it fits the genre criteria, so people (including us) aren’t ever sure quite where to shelf it.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Gobble, Gobble, Murder
Book Summary
This collection includes two Thanksgiving-themed mysteries from the popular 29-book Lucy Stone series: Turkey Day Murder and Turkey Trot Murder.
Turkey Day Murder (originally published 2000): Tinker’s Cove, Maine has a long history of Thanksgiving festivities, but this year, murder is on the menu. Lucy intends to discover who left Metinnicut Indian activist Curt Nolan deader than the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey.
Turkey Trot Murder (2017): Besides the annual Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day, Lucy expects this holiday to be a relatively uneventful one. This is, until she finds beautiful Alison Franklin dead and frozen in Blueberry Pond. Lucy is in a race to beat the killer to the finish line.
Death by Hot Apple Cider
Book Summary
With Thanksgiving on the way, Krissy Hancock’s bookstore-cafe in Pine Hills, Ohio, is joining the local library for a seasonal celebration. Krissy is in charge of supplying the cider, and her staff is manning the apple-bobbing booth.
When a patron dunks his head in and doesn’t come back up, she’s an instant suspect. Especially because the victim was notorious for accusing the bookstore (and the library and the school) of promoting scandalous literature. Will Krissy be able to help her policeman boyfriend find the real killer?
Thanksgiving Past
Book Summary
Ainsley Holloway came to Gooseberry Bay searching for answers about her past. In this second book in the series, Ainsely meets Adam Winchester, who agrees to help her find the answers she seeks.
In addition to searching for the truth about her own history, Ainsley also finds herself trying to solve the mystery of a family who vanished five Thanksgivings ago.
Sweet Thanksgiving
Book Summary
The only thing better than a Thanksgiving cozy mystery is a Thanksgiving cozy mystery WITH RECIPES!
It’s November in the seaside town of Sweet Cove, Massachusetts. Ellie and Jack’s wedding day is fast approaching, and a celebrity chef is in town for his book signing. When someone winds up dead, the Roseland sisters and their two cats are drawn into a new case.
The Book Girls Say…
Like all the books in the Sweet Cove Mystery series, this book has some mild paranormal elements, making it the perfect cozy read between Halloween and Thanksgiving. If you’re looking for another option with even stronger paranormal vibes, check out Southern Magic Thanksgiving, which is #7 in the Sweet Tea Witches cozy series.
Join the Fall Reading Mini Challenge
Our free self-paced reading challenge will keep you reading engaging books throughout the autumn season. To make it easy and fun, we include highly-rated book recommendations for each of the four fall reading prompts.
Printable Version of this List
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Five More Thanksgiving Novels to Consider
We wanted to acknowledge that we left off 5 books that seem to be on everyone else’s Thanksgiving books list. None of them made the final cut for our list because they had very mixed reviews or simply because they didn’t sound like books we’d enjoy reading. But, since they seem to be standard book recommendations for Thanksgiving, we’ve listed them below. Be sure to check the reviews for yourself.
- Thanksgiving Night by Richard Bausch
- The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne
- Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp
- Model Behavior by Jay M
- Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes
