13 books like Beards

By Reginald Reynolds,

Here are 13 books that Beards fans have personally recommended if you like Beards. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea

Andy Merrills Author Of The Vandals

From my list on thinking about history in a different way.

Why am I passionate about this?

Andy Merrills teaches ancient and medieval history at the University of Leicester. He is a hopeless book addict, writes occasionally for work and for the whimsical periodical Slightly Foxed, and likes nothing so much as reading elegantly-composed works which completely change the way he thinks about everything. (This happens quite a lot). 

Andy's book list on thinking about history in a different way

Andy Merrills Why did Andy love this book?

On the face of it, this seems like a straightforward book. Magris traces the geography of the Danube from Furtwangen or Donauschingen in southern Germany to the Black Sea, and in so doing surveys the history of the regions through which it passes. That would be a bold enough project in its own right, but the book itself is so much more than this and is one that I’ve returned to many times since I first stumbled across it fifteen years ago. The riverine structure of the book sweeps the reader from prehistory to the twentieth century and back again, individual eddies linger on intriguing episodes – the building of the cathedral tower at Ulm, the significance of the Iron Gates – and then we’re off again on another evocative description of the river or aside on the forgotten history of Mitteleuropa. A terrific read.

By Claudio Magris, Patrick Creagh (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A journey along this famous river described by the author, Claudio Magris, who unravels the amazing history of the many towns along its banks.


Book cover of Daily Life in Late Antiquity

Andy Merrills Author Of The Vandals

From my list on thinking about history in a different way.

Why am I passionate about this?

Andy Merrills teaches ancient and medieval history at the University of Leicester. He is a hopeless book addict, writes occasionally for work and for the whimsical periodical Slightly Foxed, and likes nothing so much as reading elegantly-composed works which completely change the way he thinks about everything. (This happens quite a lot). 

Andy's book list on thinking about history in a different way

Andy Merrills Why did Andy love this book?

This is the only book on the list that relates directly to my main topic of research, but that is a strong recommendation in itself. In truth, there are lots of books about ‘late antiquity’ (or ‘the later Roman Empire’), and many of them are very good indeed. But they also tell a familiar story in familiar ways: they discuss politics, military actions, transforming towns, and (increasingly) plague and climate change. Sessa’s book deals with all of these themes in some way, but flips the whole thing on its head. This book looks at the period from the bottom up, thinking about the lived experiences of women and children, of country-dwellers, and those who inhabited the less glamorous corners of the empire. Reading this made me think again about lots of topics that I thought I knew well. It is also accessibly written and introduces a sometimes complex period very…

By Kristina Sessa,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daily Life in Late Antiquity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Daily Life in Late Antiquity is the first comprehensive study of lived experience in the Late Roman Empire, from c.250-600 CE. Each of the six topical chapters highlight historical 'everyday' people, spaces, and objects, whose lives operate as windows into the late ancient economy, social relations, military service, religious systems, cultural habits, and the material environment. However, it is nevertheless grounded in late ancient primary sources - many of which are available in accessible English translations - and the most recent, cutting-edge scholarship by specialists in fields such as archaeology, social history, religious studies, and environmental history. From Manichean rituals…


Book cover of Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

Jane Marie Author Of Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans

From my list on encyclopedic books for cultural factoid nerds.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a kid, I was addicted to almanacs, encyclopedias, and atlases. I liked collecting facts and snooping around other people’s lives, and my family, including extended family, totally indulged me by gifting me their history or factoid book collections. I remember one set my Grandma Sally gave me: Time Library of Curious and Unusual Facts. I cannot find the complete set anywhere these days, but it’s where I learned about spontaneous combustion and wealthy hoarders. Who wouldn’t want to know that stuff!

Jane's book list on encyclopedic books for cultural factoid nerds

Jane Marie Why did Jane love this book?

I love this book because it’s a collection of mini-biographies of contemporary writers, musicians, and artists from the 20th century, some I’d heard of and some I hadn’t, but they’re all weird.

Like, as I’m writing this, I just flipped to a random page and there’s a section on Michael Mann, who once owned the apartment I’m writing this in. And then I flip a little more and get five succinct and totally bizarre pages about Mao.

I love how random his book is!

By Clive James,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Cultural Amnesia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This international bestseller is an encyclopedic A-Z masterpiece-the perfect introduction to the very core of Western humanism. Clive James rescues, or occasionally destroys, the careers of many of the greatest thinkers, humanists, musicians, artists, and philosophers of the twentieth century. Soaring to Montaigne-like heights, Cultural Amnesia is precisely the book to burnish these memories of a Western civilization that James fears is nearly lost.


Book cover of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families

Roland Merullo Author Of Dessert with Buddha

From my list on thoughtful works of fiction and non-fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My twenty novels tend to focus on characters who face great challenges, and I have a particular appreciation for beautiful prose. I don’t read for distraction or entertainment, but to be enlightened, moved, and made more compassionate about different kinds of people in different environments.

Roland's book list on thoughtful works of fiction and non-fiction

Roland Merullo Why did Roland love this book?

This is the story of a highly educated writer living with the poorest of the poor in the U.S. Agee was sent to live with Alabama sharecroppers during the Depression. His assignment was to write about them for a magazine, but he ended up making it into a magnificent memoir (Jimmy Carter’s favorite memoir) that is often paired with Walker Evans’ photos. They lived and worked as a team.

Agee is a well-educated, well-off writer, but manages to describe the lives of the poorest of the poor with great respect, artistic originality, and sincerity, and to give us a full, if painful, understanding of the lives of people who could not afford shoes and were worked to the bone by the landowners.

It’s a deeply spiritual work, artistically original in structure and language, a long, slow, magnificent read that has touched me deeply each time I’ve read it.

By James Agee, Walker Evans,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Let Us Now Praise Famous Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the summer of 1936, Agee and Evans set out on assignement for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event when in 1941 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men was first published to enourmous critical acclaim. This unspairing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.


Book cover of Bibliophile

Marianne Julia Strauss Author Of Do You Read Me? Bookstores Around The World

From my list on to give a book lover.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am writing about the good things in life, covering love, books, motorcycles, and everything in between. It was around 2010 when I started travelling for my job as a travel journalist and lived abroad for some years in France, Namibia, and Indonesia. I started to visit indie bookstores in every city I got to and made a book out of them ten years later. The best part was the precious, deep, and always inspiring conversations with the bookshop owners. This list contains their and my favourite well-tried book present recommendations for every age and occasion.

Marianne's book list on to give a book lover

Marianne Julia Strauss Why did Marianne love this book?

From the workspaces of famous authors to bookish quiz questions to portraits of the most adorable bookstore cats, this one is an illustrated love letter to the universe of books. Jane Mount recommends her best reads from memoirs to fantasy, shows her favourite bookstores, and presents songs about books, books that were turned into great films and so much more, including for sure some beautiful book facts that are new to your giftee.

By Jane Mount,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Searching for perfect book lovers gifts? Rejoice! Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany, is a love letter to all things bookish. Author Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. It's a must-have for every book collection, and makes a wonderful literary gift for book lovers, writers, and more.

Readers of Jane Mount's Bibliophile will delight in:
Touring the world's most beautiful bookstores Testing their knowledge of the written word with quizzes Finding their next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books Sampling the most famous fictional meals Peeking inside the workspaces of…


Book cover of Complicated Hearts

Sai Marie Johnson Author Of Simply Scarlet: A Sensual Tale of Lust and Love

From my list on steamy books with a bite.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a passion for this type of writing because I am talented at it and I feel that illustrious and sensuous writing with an erotic flair is something very under-sung and often stigmatized. It has been more accepted since the Fifty Shades of Grey trend, but I feel there are so many authors who have yet to achieve the recognition they deserve for their efforts in this artistic and intriguing genre!

Sai's book list on steamy books with a bite

Sai Marie Johnson Why did Sai love this book?

So, Ashley’s book isn’t exactly dark romance, but it is one of those duos that has an incredibly racy bite! When you consider the variables for a young adult m/f/m relationship that is riddled with angst and possibility, it’s easy to see why this book has all the scandal and heat you need to keep you bitten and trapped within the pages!

By Ashley Jade,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Breslin—I was in love with Asher Holden the moment I saw him...and I knew nothing would ever be the same. Then he hurt me. He wrecked me. He ruined me. I spent three years putting myself together—fixing what he broke. I never thought I'd see him again after that day. I was counting on it. Little did I know—life had other plans...and things were going to become a lot more complicated. Asher—I finally know who I am. I own it, I embrace it...I'm no longer afraid. I live my life with no regrets now, because I've learned my lesson—the hard…


Book cover of Any Person Is the Only Self: Essays

Evan Friss Author Of The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

From my list on about bookstores.

Why am I passionate about this?

My life is, in many ways, centered around bookstores. It all began at Three Lives & Co., a magical indie in the West Village of Manhattan. My girlfriend, now wife, worked there as a bookseller, and it was through her experience (and me hanging around the shop) that I developed an appreciation for how vital and wondrous bookstores can be. I was so enamored that I spent years researching the history of bookstores, visiting as many bookstores as I could, and talking to as many booksellers as possible. The result is my book.

Evan's book list on about bookstores

Evan Friss Why did Evan love this book?

Admittedly, this is a book more about reading than bookstores, but I admire Gabbert’s ability to write so eloquently about the ways that we find books, read books, and treasure books. Each essay is unique, but I was able to patch together my own narrative—and reconsider my relationship to my mind and my books—along the way.

By Elisa Gabbert,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Any Person Is the Only Self as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Contagiously curious essays on reading, art, and the life of the mind, from the acclaimed author of The Unreality of Memory.

Who are we when we read? When we journal? Are we more ourselves alone or with friends? Right now or in memory? How does time transform us and the art we love?

In sixteen dazzling, expansive essays, the acclaimed essayist and poet Elisa Gabbert explores a life lived alongside books of all kinds: dog-eared and destroyed, cherished and discarded, classic and clichėd, familiar and profoundly new. She turns her witty, searching mind to the writers she admires, from Plath…


Book cover of Diary Of A Bookseller

Phaedra Patrick Author Of The Messy Lives of Book People

From my list on the power of books and reading.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by books since a young age. Not just reading the stories but also how they’re written, the cover design, literary agents, and the publishing industry in general. I’ve written five novels (four of which are USA Today bestsellers) and my work has been translated into twenty-five languages worldwide. My second novel, Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone, was made into a Hallmark movie in 2021. I still get excited about generating ideas for characters to take on unusual and joyous journeys of discovery. I’m a huge fan of reading books about the craft of writing, and I especially love novels about bookshops and libraries.

Phaedra's book list on the power of books and reading

Phaedra Patrick Why did Phaedra love this book?

This non-fiction book is uplifting, funny, and heartbreaking in equal measure as Shaun Bythell shares his diary of owning Scotland’s biggest second-hand book store. We get to meet the eccentric readers who frequent his bookshop and learn first-hand about the struggles of owning a small business, and the importance of books and the community.

By Sean Bythell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Diary Of A Bookseller as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Love, Nina meets Black Books: a wry and hilarious account of life in Scotland's biggest second-hand bookshop and the band of eccentrics and book-obsessives who work there

'The Diary Of A Bookseller is warm (unlike Bythell's freezing-cold shop) and funny, and deserves to become one of those bestsellers that irritate him so much.' (Mail on Sunday)

'Utterly compelling and Bythell has a Bennett-like eye for the amusing eccentricities of ordinary people ... I urge you to buy this book and please, even at the risk of being insulted or moaned at, buy it from a real live bookseller.' (Charlotte Heathcote…


Book cover of In Praise of Good Bookstores

Evan Friss Author Of The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

From my list on about bookstores.

Why am I passionate about this?

My life is, in many ways, centered around bookstores. It all began at Three Lives & Co., a magical indie in the West Village of Manhattan. My girlfriend, now wife, worked there as a bookseller, and it was through her experience (and me hanging around the shop) that I developed an appreciation for how vital and wondrous bookstores can be. I was so enamored that I spent years researching the history of bookstores, visiting as many bookstores as I could, and talking to as many booksellers as possible. The result is my book.

Evan's book list on about bookstores

Evan Friss Why did Evan love this book?

I delighted in Deutsch’s meditation on bookstores. His unique perspective, gained from years of running the Seminary Co-Op in Chicago, shines through the pages of this book. I especially loved his insights about why we so enjoy a good browse. I also appreciated the book's frankness—an honest assessment of just how hard running a bookstore can be.

By Jeff Deutsch,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked In Praise of Good Bookstores as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From a devoted reader and lifelong bookseller, an eloquent and charming reflection on the singular importance of bookstores

Do we need bookstores in the twenty-first century? If so, what makes a good one? In this beautifully written book, Jeff Deutsch-the former director of Chicago's Seminary Co-op Bookstores, one of the finest bookstores in the world-pays loving tribute to one of our most important and endangered civic institutions. He considers how qualities like space, time, abundance, and community find expression in a good bookstore. Along the way, he also predicts-perhaps audaciously-a future in which the bookstore not only endures, but realizes…


Book cover of A History of the Book in America: The Enduring Book : Print Culture in Postwar America: 5

Beth Luey Author Of Expanding the American Mind: Books and the Popularization of Knowledge

From my list on that tell us why we read and write.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an avid reader, I'm curious about where books come from and what they do. How does a story get to be a book? How does someone become an author? What is happening to us as we read? I worked in publishing, and eventually, I started teaching other people how to become editors and publishers. As a faculty member, I had time to study and write about book history. I joined the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing when it was formed and became its president. The conferences helped me to learn about the history of books throughout the world and from pre-print times to the present.

Beth's book list on that tell us why we read and write

Beth Luey Why did Beth love this book?

I always like to start learning about a subject with an overview, and this book brings together experts on topics ranging from technology to censorship, marketing, copyright, and book clubs in the period starting with World War II. I turn to this volume, again and again, to refresh my knowledge and enjoy excellent writing by the top scholars in book history. Earlier volumes in the series cover the topic from colonial times.

By David Paul Nord,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A History of the Book in America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the only comprehensive, interpretive survey of the history of the book in the United States since 1945.The fifth volume of ""A History of the Book in America"" addresses the economic, social, and cultural shifts affecting print culture from World War II to the present. During this period factors such as the expansion of government, the growth of higher education, the climate of the Cold War, globalization, and the development of multimedia and digital technologies influenced the patterns of consolidation and diversification established earlier.The thirty-three contributors to the volume explore the evolution of the publishing industry and the business…


Book cover of Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea
Book cover of Daily Life in Late Antiquity
Book cover of Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

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