13 books like An Exile Aboard Ship

By M.C.A. Hogarth,

Here are 13 books that An Exile Aboard Ship fans have personally recommended if you like An Exile Aboard Ship. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Earthrise

Kyoko M. Author Of The Black Parade

From my list on books to celebrate Juneteenth that aren’t about black pain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about Juneteenth as a way to celebrate black and African voices, but without it always having to do with the Civil Rights movement or with slavery. Black and African voices deserve to be heard, but they also deserve to write about what they’re passionate about and what they love rather than being constantly pigeonholed into writing about the Civil Rights movement or slavery. I decided to pick books that celebrate black and African voices that still have conflict and an impact on the reader but don’t veer into the often overused black pain trope.

Kyoko's book list on books to celebrate Juneteenth that aren’t about black pain

Kyoko M. Why did Kyoko love this book?

I liked this book because it’s off the beaten path. It’s amazing to me that the author at some point mentioned she’s never seen the Firefly series, yet this book really does evoke that kind of story in a good way. It has to do with a fun, colorful bunch of crooks on a rickety ship that take on a new member who turns out to land them in a world of trouble.

I really loved the voice of the main lead, given that she’s a tough lady, but she also has vulnerable sides too. The crew all have well-defined roles and personalities and the plot is enjoyable. It also has elements from harem and josei manga/anime, which is right up my alley. 

By M.C.A. Hogarth, Julie Dillon (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Reese Eddings has enough to do keeping her rattletrap merchant vessel, the TMS Earthrise, profitable enough to pay food for herself and her micro-crew. So when a mysterious benefactor from her past shows up demanding she rescue a man from slavers, her first reaction is to say “NO!” And then to remember that she sort of promised to repay the loan. But she doesn’t remember signing up to tangle with pirates and slavers over a space elf prince....

Book 1 of the Her Instruments trilogy is a space operatic adventure set in the Peltedverse, and kicks off your adventure into…


Book cover of Literary Machines

Alex Wright Author Of Informatica: Mastering Information through the Ages

From my list on forgotten pioneers of the Internet.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a researcher, writer, and designer who has spent most of the past twenty-five years working in the technology industry, following an earlier career as a journalist and academic librarian. I've developed an abiding interest in the history of knowledge networks. I've written two books on the history of the information age, as well as a number of newspaper and magazine articles on new and emerging technologies. While the technology industry often seems to have little use for its own history, I have found the history of networked systems to be a rich source of inspiration, full of sources of inspiration that can help us start to envision a wide range of possible futures.

Alex's book list on forgotten pioneers of the Internet

Alex Wright Why did Alex love this book?

The famously mercurial Nelson has been writing about the possibilities of networked information since the 1960s.

Indeed, he first coined the term “hypertext” in 1965. In Literary Machines (first published in 1981), he proposed a hypertext system dubbed Xanadu (after Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous “vision in a dream”), a new kind of networked system that would serve as a repository of all the world’s knowledge.

He proposed that users could connect related documents together via “jump links,” embed content from one document into another via what he called “transclusion,” and even explored the possibilities of micropayments.

Nelson’s pioneering work won him legions of acolytes in the early days of the personal computing and hypertext movements, directly influencing the development of later networked systems including the World Wide Web.

By Ted Nelson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Literary Machines as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ted Nelson's visionary 1980 book, which defined the term "hypertext" and foretold the Worldwide Web. A rare and historic book.


Book cover of Success Secrets of the Motivational Superstars

Samuel J. Alibrando Author Of Nature Never Stops Talking: The Wonderful Ingenuity of Nature

From my list on that have changed my thinking permanently.

Why am I passionate about this?

My books are non-fiction. However, the best stories are always how a character really changes. These books brought permanent change to me. One important value I see evaporating in this world is the ability to ask honest questions and the courage to willingly follow the evidence. I try to give readers a fresh and inspiring look at things like never before. Similarly, with every book recommendation, each author brought me a new perspective and added unexpected formats for learning. My advice is if you want to specialize in something, pursue diversified learning to maintain solid footing instead of specializing yourself into some specialized niche. Never lose your curiosity. 

Samuel's book list on that have changed my thinking permanently

Samuel J. Alibrando Why did Samuel love this book?

This book aimed to enhance public speaking abilities using legendary speakers of the time (in 1996), these are mostly old-timers while the new “kid” is Tony Robbins.

More than 500 pages of 15 successful motivational speakers share their key content, their own motivation, their methods and practices. You get the incredible content. You get universal tips on communication. You get personal testimonies of struggle and overcoming. Sit down with these 15 masters of motivation and feel the side effect of being challenged.

This book will still be valuable 100 years from now because it is practical and inspiring. Hey, you might aspire to public speaking.

By Michael Jeffreys,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Success Secrets of the Motivational Superstars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

America's greatest motivational speakers reveal their secrets of success in this one-of-a-kind collection of interviews. Author Michael Jeffreys interviewed fifteen of the top leaders in the speaking world, including Anthony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Barbara De Angelis, and Jack Canfield. These charismatic communicators share their personal triumphs, passions, and pearls of wisdom that have molded their lives.Here is some of what you will learn from Success Secrets of the Motivational Superstars:
the way to conquer fear is to face it head on
giving up is not an option
personal growth never stopsAbout the AuthorMichael Jeffreys is also the author of Selling…


Book cover of Dealers of Lightning: Xerox Parc and the Dawn of the Computer Age

G. Pascal Zachary Author Of Showstopper! The Breakneck Race to Create Windows NT and the Next Generation at Microsoft

From my list on the human dimension of writing computer code.

Why am I passionate about this?

The author was the chief Silicon Valley writer for The Wall Street Journal during the first of the 1990s. He went on to become an acclaimed scholar in the history of science, engineering, and innovation. At the peak of his journalism career, the Boston Globe described Zachary as the most talented reporter on the Journal's staff. Zachary went on to write technology and innovation columns for The New York Times, Technology Review, and Spectrum magazineZachary has also taught courses on science and technology studies at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and Arizona State University, where he was a professor from 2010-2020. He lives in northern California. 

G.'s book list on the human dimension of writing computer code

G. Pascal Zachary Why did G. love this book?

The software interface for Apple’s innovative Macintosh was largely (and legally) modeled on system software designed at the Palo Alto < California research center of Xerox, an East Coast photocopy company whose stodgy executives failed to realize the value of the coding breakthroughs they had funded and nurtured in the heart of northern California’s computer cauldron. Before anyone at the top of Xerox realized the enormity of their errors, the company had licensed to Steve Jobs and Apple key software technologies that animated the Macintosh revolution in the 1980s. Hiltzik’s richly detailed and readable history, based on scores of interviews, is the best account of the epic failure of an American corporate icon. Apple and Jobs went on to achieve glory while Xerox ultimately became a zombie company, having missed the greatest industrial wave of the past 75 years. 

By Michael A. Hiltzik,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dealers of Lightning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

During the 1970s and 1980s, a number of brilliant computer eccentrics were thrown together by Xerox at the Xerox PARC centre in Palo Alto, California. These people created inventions such as the first personal computer, the graphic user interface, the mouse and one of the precursors of the Internet. However, the bosses at Xerox never really appreciated these men or their innovations, and accused them of just fooling around. Then along came the outsiders, such as Steve Jobs of Apple Computing, who left the PARC with ideas that they would later exploit and make vast fortunes on, propelling them to…


Book cover of The Verifiers

Rachel Cochran Author Of The Gulf

From my list on queer mystery and crime books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a queer writer who lovers to read and write mystery and crime fiction. The history of these genres is often full of homophobic stereotypes and scapegoating of queer characters. While I think it’s important to show queer characters as flawed, I also want to make sure to celebrate the contributions of queer writers to these messy, wonderful genres.

Rachel's book list on queer mystery and crime books

Rachel Cochran Why did Rachel love this book?

This book is a gripping story that reads like a thrilling noir caper.

I felt drawn into the main character’s story, both as she navigated the mystery and in her stirring relationship with her family. The intersection of her identity as a queer woman from a Chinese-American family provided so much of the story’s heart and stakes—I found myself reading to see how these tensions would resolve as much as to figure out whodunnit.

By Jane Pek,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Verifiers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of We Are the Origin

KaliVictoria Author Of The Shadows of Heaven

From my list on centering Black women and Black girls in fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an own voice author, it is incredibly important for me to write characters that look like me, but it is exceptionally healing to find novels where I feel represented. My inner child yearns for more books that remind me of my adolescent wish to be a main character, to have a fleshed-out story, to be the hero or overpowered creature of the night. Being a main character means being seen and being heard, and I think now is the time to branch into every genre I can to know that any story, no matter how big or small the pages, can be done and can be Black. Happy reading! 

KaliVictoria's book list on centering Black women and Black girls in fiction

KaliVictoria Why did KaliVictoria love this book?

C.M. Lockhart did an incredible job with We Are the Origin. With this book, we get to navigate a world full of gods, vessels, assassins—there are several moments where I would forget the time while I read this novel, because the world building and character arcs are just that interwoven and well executed. In terms of diversity, it’s refreshing for our main character, Brandi, to be around people that look like her while also being unapologetically herself. This story is original, the characters are well-fleshed out, and I am patiently awaiting the sequel. 

By C.M. Lockhart,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

She was a shadow.

Forced into a life of serving the queendom before she was old enough to deny them, Brandi was a cultivator of death and the queen’s own blade, reserved only for the disloyal and the blasphemous. Crafted by the queendom and forged in blood, she was nothing more than a tool. She was never meant to have an opinion on whose blood she shed — never meant to question whose back she was pressed into or whose throat she was slipped across.

She was destruction.

But when Freya, the goddess of life and judger of souls, demands…


Book cover of A Court of Silver Flames

Ella d’Avoine Author Of The Crimson Warrior

From my list on fantasy strong female protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

One might read for many reasons, but one of the main reasons for me is to connect and relate to the character. Female voices are very underheard, and I feel incredibly passionate about changing that and creating and reading stories where the female protagonists have strong voices and are not afraid to be heard. I think it’s important that we continue to create female characters that are raw and real and that portray subjects and feelings that need to be heard more.

Ella's book list on fantasy strong female protagonists

Ella d’Avoine Why did Ella love this book?

I loved this entire series, but there was something about this book that was my favorite. It’s told from a different perspective than the others, giving it a really fresh view of the world. My favorite thing about this book was the character development.

You follow one of the main female characters, who at the beginning is spiteful and hurt and constantly lashing out, and you see her grow into herself. She takes responsibility for her mistakes, and reading about her opening up again really warmed my heart as I can heavily relate to it.

I think her character is very real and raw, and her development as a person is portrayed beautifully. I didn’t always like her initially, but I ultimately loved her.

By Sarah J. Maas,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Court of Silver Flames as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE LATEST BOOK IN THE #1 BESTSELLING SERIES 'With bits of Buffy, Game Of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series of total joy' STYLIST ___________________________ Sarah J. Maas's sexy, richly imagined A Court of Thorns and Roses series continues with the journey of Feyre's fiery sister, Nesta... Nesta Archeron has always been prickly - proud, swift to anger and slow to forgive. And since the war - since being made High Fae against her will - she's struggled to forget the horrors she endured and find a place for herself within the strange and deadly Night Court. The…


Book cover of Structuring Your Novel

Valerie Howard Author Of Deep Blue Sea

From my list on for indie authors working to improve their craft.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a published indie author since 2011, and I enjoy reading and studying the craft to make my work the best it can be. I have a passion for indie authors and indie publishing, and I love the flexibility this type of authorship gives me while I homeschool my two young boys, run a non-profit organization, and volunteer at my church.

Valerie's book list on for indie authors working to improve their craft

Valerie Howard Why did Valerie love this book?

I can never read too many books about how to structure the overall plot of a novel because I’m a by-the-book plotter. K.M. Weiland brilliantly explains in a down-to-earth way how to make your story work so you are never confused about which plot points should go where in your story, no matter if you plot to the nth degree or like to see where the story takes you with minimal planning.

By K.M. Weiland,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Structuring Your Novel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Is Structure the Hidden Foundation of All Successful Stories?

Why do some stories work and others don’t? The answer is structure. In this award-winning guide from the author of the acclaimed Outlining Your Novel, you will learn the universal underpinnings that guarantee powerful plot and character arcs. An understanding of proper story and scene structure will show you how to perfectly time your story’s major events and will provide you with an unerring standard against which to evaluate your novel’s pacing and progression. Structuring Your Novel will show you:

How to determine the best techniques for empowering your unique and…


Book cover of Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life

Catherine Maiorisi Author Of A Matter of Blood

From my list on mysteries that feature two detectives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write the NYPD Detective Chiara Corelli Mystery series featuring Corelli and her partner Detective P.J. Parker. Most mysteries have a single main character so I’m passionate about finding other authors who write mysteries with two professional investigators as main characters. It’s fascinating to see how authors writing the same type of characters handle them and what they do about character growth over the course of the series. To me, watching two characters react to each other, seeing their relationship change over the course of a book or a series is much more interesting than reading about a single detective.

Catherine's book list on mysteries that feature two detectives

Catherine Maiorisi Why did Catherine love this book?

When I sat down to write my first novel I knew I wanted to model my characters on George’s Lynley and Havers but I couldn’t even start writing because I had no idea how to structure a novel, particularly a mystery. As fate would have it, George released her book on writing, Write Away, around that time. In it, she described her process with examples from her own books and it was exactly what I needed. This book provided the essential tools I needed to write. 

By Elizabeth George,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Write Away as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Elizabeth George is one of the most successful writers of crime fiction in the world. Her twelve novels have appeared on bestseller lists in the UK, USA and Australia, and several of them have been dramatised by BBC Television as the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. She has also written a collection of short stories and edited a crime anthology.

Now she shares this wealth of experience with would-be novelists, and with crime fiction fans. Drawing extensively on her own work, and that of other bestselling writers including Stephen King, Harper Lee, Dennis Lehane and many others, she illustrates her points about…


Book cover of Scharlette Doesn't Matter and Goes Time Travelling

A.C. Huntley Author Of The Galactic Zookeeper's Guide to Heists and Husbandry

From my list on humorous sci-fi books with female protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a child, the thing that plagued me most about my favorite genre, sci-fi, was that none of the protagonists were women! As a daughter to doctors and research scientists, it felt strange that the only female characters in sci-fi were these buxom, mystical healers or seamstresses who meekly repaired their crewmates’ uniforms. While that problem has been remedied over the last two decades of excellence in mainstream sci-fi with some truly unforgettable female heroines, they’re not as plentiful in the niche market of humorous sci-fi. I am thrilled to share this list of my favorite lighthearted, humorous sci-fi reads with female protagonists. 

A.C.'s book list on humorous sci-fi books with female protagonists

A.C. Huntley Why did A.C. love this book?

It is so easy to slip into this fun romp of a novel.

Scharlette is a bit of a mess, like most modern women. She doesn’t have her life in order–in fact, what she does have is a boring job and love handles. When she bumps into a time agent named Tomothy, she insists on tagging along for what proves to be a fast-paced, crazy adventure.

For me, the tongue-in-cheek humor is the best part. I adore these novels and am always thrilled to recommend them to someone who’s uninitiated. 

By Sam Bowring,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Scharlette Doesn't Matter and Goes Time Travelling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ever since Scharlette’s parents gave her a name no one can pronounce, she’s been stuck in a bit of a rut. She hates her job in airport security, making people take their belts off before they fly to exotic locations she can only dream about. She owns a small apartment with large repayments, drinks bargain bin red on a couch that swallows gym memberships, and misses her little sister – lost to an exploding sandwich press, ten years ago.

Scharlette fears she might live her whole life without doing anything or mattering to anyone. Still, it comes as quite a…


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