If You Like Kaye Gibbons...
Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
Narrator Katie lives on a Texas Army base with her 18-year-old sister and volatile father, an officer of unidentified rank. The girls' mother died of cancer, although Katie never discusses how much time has passed since the loss. Accustomed to a military lifestyle, and suspecting that her home will be only a temporary one, Katie leads a fairly ordinary existence. She and her best friend go swimming, talk about puberty and meet boys. When the inevitable happens and the family learns they're being transferred to Missouri, Katie tries to accept the impending change, but her sister, who can no longer tolerate her father's abuse, rebels.
The next book in the Katie Nash series is Joy School.
Moon Women by Pamela Duncan
Taking place in rural North Carolina in the early 1990s, the story spans nine months; just long enough for unwed Ashley to carry and deliver her "young'un." After a stint in rehab, the troubled 19-year-old goes home to her mother, Ruth Ann, whose carefully organized life is about to be turned upside down. Between her ne'er-do-well, philandering ex-husband who still comes around, her octogenarian mother for whom she must care, and Ashley's tense return, Ruth Ann has much to worry about. She wants her family to be happy, but at the same time wishes they would give her some space.
Also try Plant Life.
Raney by Clyde Edgerton
This charming vignette follows the early days of the marriage of Raney, an innocent Southern Baptist, and Charles, who is considerably more liberal and sophisticated than Raney. The two must make many accommodations to one another and regularly consult a marriage counselor.
Also try Walking Across Egypt.
Friendship Cake by Lynne Hinton
Five women, working together to create a church cookbook, share their passions, loves and losses, including pastor Charlotte Stewart, who is suffering a crisis in faith; widow Margaret, the town confidante; and Jessie, the only African-American in an all-white church.
The next book in the Hope Springs series is Garden of Faith.
Tending to Virginia by Jill McCorkle
Virginia Suzanne Ballard is 28 years old, eight months pregnant and not at all sure she wants to leave her family and move to Richmond with her husband. When stricken with toxemia, Ginny Sue is tended by three generations of her family's women: her grandmother, great-aunt, mother, and cousin Cindy. Conversation among the women is woven of memories and half-remembered recollections, current misunderstandings, wishes, disappointments and a dark secret concerning Cindy's father, a Chevrolet salesman with an Egyptian obsession.
Also try Carolina Moon.
Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen
It is the 1960s in suburban New York City. Maggie and her family are in the thrall of her powerful grandfather Jack Scanlan. In the summer of her 12th year, Maggie is desperately trying to master the object lessons her grandfather fills her head with, but there is too much going on to concentrate. Everything at home is in upheaval, her grandfather is changing, and Maggie is unsure if what she wants is worth having.
Also try Blessings.
Change Baby by June Spence
Avie was born just before her mother's menopause and long after her two "more suitably timed siblings." She trusted that once she left her hometown of Regina, N.C., "the future would cough up its gems," but she's now a recovering alcoholic in a dysfunctional relationship with a married man. When her elderly mother, Mabry, is injured, Avie returns home to care for her. She seeks out Mabry's cousin and oldest friend, Zephra, curious about the rift between them, and is told that the two women aren't really kin. From this revelation, more secrets unfold, including the true nature of the bonds between Zephra, Mabry and her dead husband, and even between Avie and her siblings.
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
Ave Maria Mulligan is the 35-year-old, self-proclaimed spinster of Big Stone Gap, a sleepy hamlet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She's also the local pharmacist, the co-captain of the Rescue Squad, and the director of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the town's long running Outdoor Drama. Ave Maria is content with her life of doing errands and negotiating small details – until she discovers a skeleton in her family's formerly tidy closet that completely unravels her quiet, conventional life.
The next book in the Big Stone Gap series is Big Cherry Holler.
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
Maggie and Ira have been married for 28 years, and it shows. In their quarrels, their routines and their ability to tolerate with affection each other's eccentricities. Maggie, a kooky, lovable meddler and an irrepressible optimist, wants nothing more than to fix her son's broken marriage. Ira is infuriatingly practical, a man "who should have married Ann Landers." And what begins as a day trip to a funeral becomes an adventure in the unexpected. As Maggie and Ira navigate the riotous twists and turns, they intersect with an assorted cast of eccentrics – and rediscover the magic of the road called life and the joy of having somebody next to you to share the ride – bumps and all.
Also try Back When We Were Grownups.