Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the youngest of five, and my siblings are what shaped me and my world. Growing up, I never felt alone, except climbing the stairs to bed half an hour before anyone else (such an injustice!). We played cards and games and had noisy discussions throughout my childhood and youth, and we still do. I wouldn’t be me without siblings. It’s the relationship that most fascinates me. There are siblings in all the books I’ve written and probably in all the books I’ll ever write. It’s not a theme I look for when I read, but I recognize the feeling when I encounter it and it feels like home.


I wrote

All Good Children

By Catherine Austen,

Book cover of All Good Children

What is my book about?

It's the middle of the twenty-first century and the children of New Middletown are lined up to receive a treatment…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of How I Live Now

Catherine Austen Why did I love this book?

I just read this book—it’s been in my TBR pile since 2004and it’s why I chose the theme of siblings. I loved the voice of this novel, the narrator’s young outsider perspective, her humour and heartDaisy is such an unexpected character to tell a war story through. But what I loved most about the book is the sibling vibe in the house of her cousins. Edmond, Piper, Osbert, and Isaaceach of them is who she/he is because of their siblings. You could remove one from the plot (well, not Edmond!) but the others wouldn’t be themselves anymore. We feel that through Daisy’s thin bones: these people belong to each other, and maybe she could belong there too. 

By Meg Rosoff,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked How I Live Now as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

How I Live Now is an original and poignant book by Meg Rosoff

How I Live Now is the powerful and engaging story of Daisy, the precocious New Yorker and her English cousin Edmond, torn apart as war breaks out in London, from the multi award-winning Meg Rosoff. How I Live Now has been adapted for the big screen by Kevin Macdonald, starring Saoirse Ronan as Daisy and releases in 2013.

Fifteen-year-old Daisy thinks she knows all about love. Her mother died giving birth to her, and now her dad has sent her away for the summer, to live in…


Book cover of The Scorpio Races

Catherine Austen Why did I love this book?

I read this novel on a plane coming back from vacation. (I’d brought Matt Haig’s The Humans, André Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs, and this one—best vacation reading ever!) It took almost 100 pages to get into it, but then I was hooked fast. I wanted to be Sean Kendrick, to have his skill and composure, to hang out with Corr, the water horse (and not get eaten). The narration alternates between Sean and Puck Connelly, an equally strong and dignified character who rides land horses (not as cool). She is why the book is on this list. Her first sentence speaks of her brothers, Finn and Gabe, and they’re with her throughout the book even when they’re not in a scene because they’re part of her, influential and understated. 

By Maggie Stiefvater,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked The Scorpio Races as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

A spellbinding novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

Some race to win. Others race to survive.It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio…


Book cover of The Witch's Boy

Catherine Austen Why did I love this book?

I read this book accidentally. When ordering The Witch’s Boy by Michael Gruber (so good! no siblings), this title came up alongside it. Barnhill won the Newbery with The Girl who Drank the Moon, but this one won my heart first. I loved the woods that separated the two worlds and the two main characters; I loved the image of magic pulsing in the veins; and I loved the subtle sibling theme. The title character, Ned, is defined in part by his dead twin. He fears that the villagers are right in saying the wrong boy survived. Having siblings is not all cozy belonging. There’s guilt and insecurity and competition and heartbreak too. This book captures some of those lost feelings among its thrills and terrors, while being ultimately uplifting.

By Kelly Barnhill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Witch's Boy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the enchanted forest that borders Ned's village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King, who is haunted by her mother's last words to her: "The wrong boy will save your life and you will save…


Book cover of Rules of Summer

Catherine Austen Why did I love this book?

This is a picture book of very few words. If you Google it (which I just did, in case I missed the whole point), you’ll find it described as being about “two boys, one older, one younger.” They are not identified as brothersbut they sure feel like brothers. For me, this book captures so many of the emotions of a younger sibling: being protected; being left out; being the person someone is stuck with. Trust; mistrust; adventure; terror; not-quite-knowing-what’s-going-on-but- suspecting-someone-does-and-they’re-not-going-to-tell-you. It’s one of my favourite unsettling picture books. There’s raw childhood here in its mysterious words and images. And siblings. These are siblings. For sure. 

By Shaun Tan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Rules of Summer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

A beautiful paperback edition of the future classic by Academy Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner - Shaun Tan combines humour and surreal fantasy to picture a summer in the lives of two boys. Never break the rules. Especially if you don't understand them. The boys hide from a giant red rabbit and outwit a crowd of scary eagles, but when their games become ever darker and sinister they learn that breaking the rules can be dangerous.'Visually fascinating.' - The New York Times'Thrilling, disturbing and hard to shake...one startling image after another.' - Wall Street JournalOther titles by Shaun…


Book cover of Empire of the Ants

Catherine Austen Why did I love this book?

There are thousands of siblings in this bookthe offspring of a single queen ant are siblings, aren’t they?and they are most definitely understated. There are humans in the book too, but it’s the ants that interest me, and their sense of relationship to each other. This is one of my favourite novels. It’s beautifully imagined, and so full of fascinating facts that I can never retain them all, so I need to read it again and again. I tried to choose contemporary titles for this list; this is the oldest, from the 1990s, set in the near future, which we’re now living in. 

By Bernard Werber,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Empire of the Ants as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Here is the stunning international bestseller in the tradition of Watership Down but with a dark, original twist. Unique, daring, and unforgettable, it tells the story of an ordinary family who accidentally threaten the security of a hidden civilization as intelligent as our own--a colony of ants determined to survive at any cost....

Jonathan Wells and his young family have come to the Paris flat at 3, rue des Sybarites through the bequest of his eccentric late uncle Edmond. Inheriting the dusty apartment, the Wells family are left with only one warning: Never go down into the cellar.

But when…


Explore my book 😀

All Good Children

By Catherine Austen,

Book cover of All Good Children

What is my book about?

It's the middle of the twenty-first century and the children of New Middletown are lined up to receive a treatment that turns them into obedient, well-mannered citizens. Maxwell Connors, a self-absorbed graffiti artist, doesn’t initially believe his little sister, Ally, when she tells him her schoolmates have changed. Then Ally herself comes home changed, and the treatment is extended to the higher grades. Will Max be "zombified" and turned into the boy his teachers always wanted him to be? Or will the family escape into the unknown world beyond New Middletown's borders? Can Max’s creativity save him? And can anything save Ally?

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Twelve Palominos

By Joe Kilgore,

Book cover of Twelve Palominos

Joe Kilgore Author Of Misfortune’s Wake

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

In a previous career, I traveled extensively to many parts of the world. I always found new cultures, old traditions, strange languages, and exotic environments fascinating. Perhaps even more fascinating, were the expats I found who had traded in their home country for an existence far from where they were born and different from how they were reared. In many instances, I’ve attempted to incorporate—in Heinlein’s words—this stranger in a strange land motif in my work. It always seems to heighten my interest. I hope the reader’s as well. 

Joe's book list on expat adventures

What is my book about?

San Diego Private Investigator, Brig Ellis, is hired by a wealthy industrialist to help him acquire the final horse in a set of twelve palomino miniatures that once belonged to the last Emperor of China. What begins as a seemingly reasonable assignment quickly morphs into something much more malevolent.

The gumshoe has to deal not only with brigands, kidnappers, and commies, but also with the beautiful, enigmatic daughter of the industrialist whose involvement raises the danger level exponentially. As complications and the body count rise, Ellis tries to make sure this ill-fated job won’t be his last.

Twelve Palominos

By Joe Kilgore,

What is this book about?

San Diego Private Investigator, Brig Ellis, is hired by a wealthy industrialist to help him acquire the final horse in a set of twelve palomino miniatures that once belonged to the last Emperor of China. What begins as a seemingly reasonable assignment quickly morphs into something much more sinister. The intrepid gumshoe finds himself having to bargain with brigands, kibitz with kidnappers, clash with commies, and duel with a stone cold assassin incapable of feeling pain. All while navigating potentially deadly pitfalls instigated by his employer's beautiful but enigmatic daughter. Conflict and danger increase at warp speed as Ellis tries…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in brothers, life satisfaction, and farms?

Brothers 113 books
Life Satisfaction 223 books
Farms 67 books