Here are 61 books that Black Sheep fans have personally recommended if you like
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I write as Robert J. Lloyd, but my friends call me Rob. Having studied Fine Art at a BA degree level (starting as a landscape painter but becoming a sculpture/photography/installation/performance generalist), I then moved to writing. During my MA degree in The History of Ideas, I happened to read Robert Hooke’s diary, detailing the life and experiments of this extraordinary and fascinating man. My MA thesis and my Hooke & Hunt series of historical thrillers are all about him. I’m fascinated by early science, which was the initial ‘pull’ into writing these stories, but the political background of the times (The Popish Plot and the Exclusion Crisis, for example) is just as enticing.
I’d never have guessed I’d be so beguiled by a book about moss. Or, more precisely, about Alma Whittaker, a bryologist observing moss.
I enjoyed this book's ‘differentness’. It’s an episodic story, unusually structured, with various life-like trailings-off of plotlines, characters, and marriage, but no less gripping for that.
Researching natural sciences in the nineteenth century is skilfully described, but it’s Alma who lingers in the mind. Its sentences, I thought, are beautiful too.
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
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'Quite simply one of the best novels I have read in years' - Elizabeth Day, Observer
'Charming ... extensively researched, compellingly readable' - Jane Shilling, Daily Telegraph
'Sumptuous ... Gilbert's prose is by turns flinty, funny, and incandescent' - New Yorker
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A captivating story of botany, exploration and desire, by the multimillion copy bestselling author of Eat Pray Love
Everything about life intrigues Alma Whittaker. Her passion for botany leads her far from home, from London to Peru to Tahiti, in pursuit of…
I am a writer, poet, and seeker, creating art that empowers women to choose their own destiny and live their truth, authentically. I’ve spent the better part of my life feeling powerless, victimized, and alone. For years, I lived in situations that demanded that I give up my power and subjugate myself to men in order to be respected and welcomed into my community. And then, after a period of extreme trauma, I learned how I had been brainwashed. So I have made it my life’s mission to spread this one message: you have all the power you will ever need, right now, within you. Claim it.
Imagine a world in which women are suddenly and unequivocally given the power to control their own fates and finally be seen as powerful in their own right. In this book, that’s exactly what happens when girls and women across the globe suddenly gain the ability to shoot electric currents out of their hands.
I loved this book because it masterfully explores the question at the heart of the modern uptick in widespread misogyny: what would happen if women had the power to subjugate men the way men have done to them? Some of the women in her story want revenge, but others just want to be able to go to the grocery store at night without fearing for their lives.
In The Power, Alderman brilliantly breaks up the monolith of women and explores the many facets of modern female disempowerment and the multitude of ways we each learn to…
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
'Electrifying' Margaret Atwood
'A big, page-turning, thought-provoking thriller' Guardian
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All over the world women are discovering they have the power. With a flick of the fingers they can inflict terrible pain - even death. Suddenly, every man on the planet finds they've lost control.
The Day of the Girls has arrived - but where will it end?
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'The Hunger Games crossed with The Handmaid's Tale' Cosmopolitan
'I loved it; it was visceral, provocative and curiously pertinent . . . The story has stayed…
History and legend: The actual past and all the myths and stories that ride along with it. I have an M.A. in history and have always been interested in old folklore and myth. So I write fantasy novels set in the 19th century. The flair is steampunk-ish, the setting strictly historical – except for the fact that magic and mythical creatures exist. Magic is taught in Arcane Lodges, mythical beings can be pretty much anything: vampire, body-snatcher, werewolf, dryad, nymph, etc. My first novel Obsidian Secrets (Das Obsidianherz) won the Deutscher Phantastik Preis. Wings of Stone of the same series won the SERAPH as the "Best Fantasy Novel" at Leipzig Book Fair.
The heroine is soulless – the book certainly is not.
An admirably determined and courageous young lady holds her own in a steampunk version of 19th century London where werewolves and vampires play an important part in society – and everyone knows they exist.
They simply belong to the Victorian upper class and try to fit their species typical lifestyles into a world somewhere between Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Werewolves and vampires: what’s not to like?
Alexia Tarabotti is labouring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire - and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high…
Ever since childhood, I have been enthralled by dragons. The stories of these mythical creatures can be told in so many ways, from dragons as pets to bonding with them or even shapeshifting into them. I chose these books because they are memorable, they have stuck with me, and they have fascinated and inspired me for years. All of these writers have influenced my own work, and they are sure to resonate with you, too.
I like Terry Pratchett’s fresh take on dragons. I’ve always appreciated his sense of humor, and his portrayal of little swamp dragons is hilarious! It cracked me up to read about little dragons like they are purebred lap dogs.
In this book, Sir Terry skillfully uses a big dragon as a metaphor, and I always love a good metaphor. Although I read it years ago, this book has stuck with me.
First book of the original and best CITY WATCH series, now reinterpreted in BBC's The Watch
'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended' The Times
The Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . _________________
'It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the…
History and legend: The actual past and all the myths and stories that ride along with it. I have an M.A. in history and have always been interested in old folklore and myth. So I write fantasy novels set in the 19th century. The flair is steampunk-ish, the setting strictly historical – except for the fact that magic and mythical creatures exist. Magic is taught in Arcane Lodges, mythical beings can be pretty much anything: vampire, body-snatcher, werewolf, dryad, nymph, etc. My first novel Obsidian Secrets (Das Obsidianherz) won the Deutscher Phantastik Preis. Wings of Stone of the same series won the SERAPH as the "Best Fantasy Novel" at Leipzig Book Fair.
I love Tanya Huff’s style of writing as much as I like her wonderful ideas.
The heroes and heroines in her novels are so well crafted you almost feel you know them personally, which to my mind is the key to a good read.
The Silvered has Steampunk elements. It is, however, set in an invented world that shows some resemblance to our 19th century. The book is a thrilling fantasy novel combining Steampunk with magic: I love the combination.
The Empire has declared war on the were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the Pack- leader.
With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen-she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack- leader-to save them. But with every step into enemy territory, the odds against their survival grow steeper...
History and legend: The actual past and all the myths and stories that ride along with it. I have an M.A. in history and have always been interested in old folklore and myth. So I write fantasy novels set in the 19th century. The flair is steampunk-ish, the setting strictly historical – except for the fact that magic and mythical creatures exist. Magic is taught in Arcane Lodges, mythical beings can be pretty much anything: vampire, body-snatcher, werewolf, dryad, nymph, etc. My first novel Obsidian Secrets (Das Obsidianherz) won the Deutscher Phantastik Preis. Wings of Stone of the same series won the SERAPH as the "Best Fantasy Novel" at Leipzig Book Fair.
Set in an alternate history environment in England, the Lord Darcy stories superbly combine the flair of an – albeit non-historical – “dark romantic” age with the classic whodunnit framework in a parallel world where magic is possible and can be used to solve crimes.
The archetypal characters of the highly intelligent detective and his brainy sidekick here give the reader a ‘prince-detective’ with a ‘mage-assistant’. The book is not new, but good reads do not go stale.
As a lover of both D. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels and magic wielded in bygone ages, I fell in love with these stories right away.
Welcome to a world where the Plantagenet kings survived, the laws of magic were discovered and the physical sciences never pursued. In the resulting Anglo-French Empire, a detective like Lord Darcy needs more than a keen mind and an observant eye. Luckily, Darcy can call on the aid of Master Sean O'Lochlainn, forensic sorcerer.
This omnibus contains all of the Lord Darcy stories as well as the only Lord Darcy novel, TOO MANY MAGICIANS, and has a new introduction by Michael Dirda.
I am an award-winning New Zealand-born Canadian author with a love of fairy tales and female empowerment. I grew up reading books about boys for boys and found it hard to find a strong female heroine I could relate to. I wrote Contest of Queens, Queen's Catacombs, and Queendom Come to give young readers that character I so longed for as a child and set the series in a world where gender norms are reversed to expose some of the silly gender norms we adhere to in our own lives. I hope to make my readers think while also shining a little more kindness into their lives.
Another huge influence on my series, this book follows a female guard as she overcomes baddies and her own social anxiety.
I loved the portrayal of a strong female lead who wasn’t an emotionless tank. She had her own limitations, she upheld positive relationships with her friends, she cared, she was vulnerable, and she still got the job done. When writing my own women-led military, I needed a reason why men would be barred from serving.
This novel had female guards working in pairs and I loved this idea. Women working together to topple bigger, stronger criminals by outmaneuvering their foes became the focus of my military.
A New York Times bestseller from the fantasy author who is legend herself: TAMORA PIERCE. In this first book in the Beka Cooper Trilogy, Beka uses her unique magic and street smarts to crack the kingdom's worst cases!
Keep out of the way. Obey all orders. Get killed on your own time.
Beka Cooper is one of the newest trainees in the Provost's Guard. As a rookie—known as a Puppy—she's assigned to the realm's toughest district: the Lower City. It should be a death sentence. The Lower City is filled with pickpockets who are fast as lightning, murderers stalking the…
I am an award-winning New Zealand-born Canadian author with a love of fairy tales and female empowerment. I grew up reading books about boys for boys and found it hard to find a strong female heroine I could relate to. I wrote Contest of Queens, Queen's Catacombs, and Queendom Come to give young readers that character I so longed for as a child and set the series in a world where gender norms are reversed to expose some of the silly gender norms we adhere to in our own lives. I hope to make my readers think while also shining a little more kindness into their lives.
This one I read when I was much younger and think about often.
Georgia, a tomboy with an awful stepbrother and a serious lack of parental support, makes friends with an old man in an antique store who gives her the key to traveling to another world.
What sticks with me most about this book is that she spends the majority of it ashamed of her own skin, hiding who she is, dressing as a boy, and shrinking from who she truly is. Throughout the course of the novel, she finds her voice, discovers her strength, and claims the beauty what she has to offer the world.
This was such an important book when I was a teenager, as I felt incredibly uncomfortable in my rapidly changing body. To read about a girl who earns her own love was truly empowering.
Sequel to City of Masks, the setting is again Talia, the parallel world very similar to 16th-century Italy, but the main character in this book is Georgia - who has a love of horses. She is desperate to buy a little, dusty winged horse that has appeared in a local antique shop. This tiny, winged horse proves to be the talisman that transports Georgia right into the rivalries and the high-octane excitement of the hugely competitive Stellata horse race. Mary Hoffman proved herself a mistress of a narrative tour-de-force with City of Masks and this sequel will not disappoint. Fans…
I began to escape into stories as a child because I was so often ill there wasn’t much else I could do. But that love of sending my mind on a little holiday to a world where everything is a little bit nicer has stuck with me. As a writer, that is what I want to do – to send my readers on a romantic adventure without them having to get out of their chair. And as I fell in love with the landscape of Regency England, through reading so many Heyer novels, that is where I enjoy setting the adventures of my characters.
I love this book for many reasons, one of them being that the heroine is a naïve young author who is having her first book published.
She has used Sylvester, the Duke of Sale, as the model for the villain of her story, because of his “tigerish” eyebrows. Which wouldn’t have mattered, if her family hadn’t decided they ought to get married.
During the course of their unorthodox courtship, (which involves her flight from him, a curricle accident, the kidnapping of his nephew, and the adoption of a French puppy) the arrogant Duke learns that he can’t have whatever he wants for the snap of his fingers – and it does him a great deal of good.
"Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."―Publishers Weekly
Rank, wealth, and elegance are no match for a young lady who writes novels...
Sylvester, Duke of Salford, has exacting requirements for a bride. Then he meets Phoebe Marlow, a young lady with literary aspirations, and suddenly life becomes very complicated. She meets none of his criteria, and even worse, she has written a novel that is sweeping through the ton and causing all kinds of gossip... and he's the main character!
What Readers Say:
"A truly brilliant Heyer with an adorable and very real heroine and…
I like to write more than I like to read, but when I do read, I want to learn about other places and times besides my own. Since my own novels are contemporary fiction, it makes sense that historical fiction is my favorite category to read. Likewise, my interest in romance isn’t from unrequited love, but rather, a desire to explore the difficulties of choosing a life partner in our complicated world. (Even my detective novels contain romance!) But I don’t like sappy introspective thought processes, a variation of teen angst, and most readers of historical romance have this same aversion. So none of my recommendations will be that way.
Although I can’t say much about the book’s cover, this is a wonderful sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It answers the question many readers have about life at Pemberly after Elizabeth and Darcy marry. Set at the end of the Regency period in England in 1814, it follows the courtship of Darcy’s younger sister, Georgiana, and deals with the issues faced by women of that day. I must confess, I have an attraction for strong female characters who must battle the norms of their society in order to find true happiness. If you have the same attraction, you’ll like this book.
Mr. Darcy's younger sister searches for her own happily-ever-after...
The year is 1814, and it is springtime at Pemberley. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have married. But now a new romance is in the air, along with high fashion, elegant manners, scandal, deception, and the wonderful hope of a true and lasting love.
Shy Georgiana Darcy has been content to remain unmarried, living with her brother and his new bride. But Elizabeth and Darcy's fairy-tale love reminds Georgiana daily that she has found no true love of her own. And perhaps never will, for she is convinced the one man she…
