Books Featuring the Found Family / Chosen Family Trope:
This list was inspired by the reading prompt: Read a book about found family in the Playing Card Reading Challenge (9 of Hearts). Maybe you are looking for found family stories for another reason. All are welcome here! I have selected a short list of well-rated found family books, but feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. Let us know if you’ve read any of these and how you liked them!
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Why read stories about found family?
Found families showcase how the people we choose to surround ourselves with impact our lives in meaningful ways. Connection through shared values and experiences can create deep and meaningful bonds that help us to become the fullest version of ourselves. This trope highlights the safety, love, and belonging that might be denied to people in their family of origin but can be gained through connecting with a group of people we choose. Reading about found families offers a sense of hope that our people are out there waiting for us (whether we have found them yet or not).
Monica Wood
A chance encounter at a bookstore brings together a retired English teacher, a former prisoner, and a handyman, leading to transformative relationships and the power of books to change lives.
Also fulfills: Read a book about books/libraries
Sangu Mandanna
A solitary witch finds belonging and love when she’s summoned to teach magic to three young witches at a mysterious house.
M.L. Rio
A group of young Shakespearean actors at a prestigious conservatory find themselves entangled in a web of ambition, rivalry, and tragedy, both on and off the stage, leading to a real-life tragedy and a decade-long mystery.
Brandon Sanderson
A brilliant thief recruits a ragtag crew to pull off the ultimate heist: overthrowing an immortal, godlike ruler who has reigned for a millennium.
Also Fulfills: Read an Epic Series Starter Read a fantasy novel
Shelby Van Pelt
A widow forms an unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus and together they uncover the truth about her son’s disappearance.
Also fulfills: Read a magical realism novel
Travis Baldree
An orc is retiring from a life of violence and bloodshed to open the city’s first coffee shop, but old and new rivals stand in her way.
Also fulfills: Read a fantasy novel Read a romance Read a book with LGBTQ+ representation
Kate Quinn
Three female codebreakers at Bletchley Park must uncover a traitor and solve one last code to save England.
Leigh Bardugo
In “Six of Crows,” now adapted as part of Netflix’s “Shadow and Bone” series, criminal mastermind Kaz Brekker assembles a crew of six dangerous outcasts for an impossible heist that could save the world—if they don’t kill each other first.
Also fulfills: Read a book with a number in the title. Read a fantasy novel. Read a book with a map. Read a book with LGBTQ+ representation.
Charlie N. Holmberg
Trapped in a sentient, haunted house, a writer and a magical expert must unravel its secrets while fending off external threats.
R.F. Kuang
A Chinese orphan trained in translation magic at Oxford must choose between upholding Britain’s colonial power or joining the anti-imperialist resistance.
Also Fulfills: Read a book with a one-word title. Read a fantasy novel.
Becky Chambers
A young woman joins a diverse crew on a spaceship, where she learns about love, trust, and family while facing unexpected challenges and dangers in deep space.
Also fulfills: Read a sci-fi set in space. Read a book with LGBTQ+ representation.
What other found family stories have you read? What draws you to this trope?
May your life be as full as your bookshelf and as long as your TBR list.
Happy Reading!
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