I have been a voracious reader since I was a kid, and I am always in the process of reading several books simultaneously. Books, whether I’m writing or reading them, are a huge part of my world.
On a teeny little farm, in an itty bitty coop, a very small hen laid a big humongous egg! So begins the hilarious story of an enormous chicken with identity issues. The clueless flock tries to guess what he is. He’s big. Is he an elephant? He eats acorns. Is he a squirrel? He protects them from the rain. Does that mean he’s an umbrella?
In the end, they find it’s what’s on the inside that makes the big guy a chicken.
Shepherd is reader supported. We may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through links on our website. This is how we fund this project for readers and authors (learn more).
The Pulitzer Prize-winning All The Light We Cannot See is a stunningly beautiful story. Set in World War 2 France, it tells the thrilling story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a boy her age in the German army. There is a cursed jewel, a Nazi officer who will kill to find it, and there is love. In my top ten.
The Overstory broke my heart and opened my mind to the incredible secrets of trees. It weaves together the tree-centered stories of several characters: a scientist, a computer genius, a group of tree-loving activists, an artist, and many unforgettable trees that become characters in their own right. A life changing book for me.
Tenth of December is a collection of brilliant, deeply touching, and often hilarious short stories by the greatest of modern American short story writers, George Saunders. He’s part Mark Twain, part Kurt Vonnegut, with an incredible knack for creating characters so real and pathetic that you will swear you have met them…maybe at Walmart. Don’t miss it.
A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself sounds like a self-help book but is actually a comic thriller/touching character study set in the world of the New York mob. Rena, the widow of a wise guy, lives a quiet life in the Bronx until the day she cracks a would-be suitor over the head with an ashtray and steals his vintage Impala. It’s a mob caper, an elderly gals wild road trip, and a Grandmother and granddaughter reunion story all in one. Big fun.
Seriously high octane excitement in this story of a Black professional getaway driver and hot rod mechanic Bug Montage. Set in the deep south, it’s a tale of desperate people doing dangerous and crazy things to escape the claws of poverty that are always trying to drag them down. Bug and his family are wonderful characters you will bond with and want more of at the end of this rollercoaster of a book.
5,887 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about trees, New York State, and World War 2.
We think you will like Lilac Girls, Alone in Berlin, and Braiding Sweetgrass if you like this list.
From Ruth's list on novels set during the post Holocaust period.
The lives of three women intersect in the aftermath of the Holocaust. One is an American socialite, based on a real person, working in New York to bring Jewish refugees from Europe to safety. The other is a young Polish woman who had been imprisoned in Ravensbruck, the famed women’s concentration camp where cruel experiments were conducted on the inmates. The third is a German doctor who lands a job at Ravensbruck, justifying to herself the things she has to do there. After the war, a confrontation involving the three women reveals much about the post-Holocaust world and the different ways people of different backgrounds and experiences deal with it.
From Mary's list on forgotten (or untold) histories of war.
This is the consummate political thriller. First published in 1947, but not translated into English until 2009, the story (based on a real incident) is set in war-time Berlin. It tells the story of the Quangels, a respectable, working-class couple who, prompted by the death of their only son Otto, distribute hundreds of hand-written post-cards critical of Hitler and the Nazi regime. As the Gestapo close in, it is as if the streets themselves become narrower and more oppressive, and the networks which have surrounded the Quangels, become tighter and more intricately interlinked. The city becomes a metaphor for the claustrophobia and surveillance of life in the Third Reich. Finally, the net tightens... The finale of the novel is devastating…
From Christina's list on inspiring lifelong learning.
This is another poetic, lyrical, inspiring book. Kimmerer’s combined Indigenous and scientific ways of knowing—and how much truth she speaks as a mother and teacher—offers a warm embrace into thinking of the world as a most precious gift. When we receive gifts, we are humbled and feel compelled by joy to give back—what an astonishing, hopeful way to think about slowing down human-driven climate change. Kimmerer speaks from the heart. We can’t stop thinking about the “three sisters” (corn, beans, and pumpkins) and how they find room to grow around each other and help one another thrive in her garden. We use this book in our scholarly research, recommend it to colleagues, and talk about it with neighbors and fellow gardeners.