Here are 100 books that Can't Help Falling fans have personally recommended if you like
Can't Help Falling.
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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
Fairy tales are all about princes and princesses, and I loved this book because it is a modern-day rom-com royal romance. Rafe is a swoony male lead, and his character is so well-developed!
I didn’t want to put this book down. I still think about it and remember certain scenes that were especially romantic.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
I did not want this book to end; it’s that good! The beginning had me rolling and laughing, with the meet-cute at the basketball game and the “kiss cam” moment. But the rest of the book gave major Cinderella vibes, and that’s my favorite fairy tale of all time.
I loved how Duke cared for Nora and did everything he could to take care of her, and I loved how they overcame their past hurts together. This was a really beautiful story that truly felt like a fairy tale!
My friend told me I needed more fun in my life, so I reluctantly said yes. Fun wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. After watching my own mother’s love life implode time and time again it’s only natural that I have a few rules to protect myself.
Actually, it’s just one rule…
Avoid relationships with men so I don’t get attached.
I wasn’t worried. Getting attached has never been a problem for me. This guy was just a warm body in a chair. I was here for the basketball game. I was absolutely NOT here for…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
This book is so much fun. I loved how Jane was determined to fall in love with all the romance tropes and they backfire. It felt like a reverse fairy tale, which made me laugh and swoon.
And when the main characters finally got together, I was kicking my feet in delight. Such a fun story set in the small-town island of Sunset Harbor.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
This book is so sweet, and I loved the epistolary format! My husband and I wrote each other many letters (yes, by hand) and emails while we were dating, so reading all the exchanges between Izzy and Brodie brought me back to those first fluttery feelings of falling in love. Izzy is such a sweet heroine, and Brodie really saw her, which I also loved!
Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood-Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You'll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin-who, really, is more like my sister-signed me up for an online dating community.
At the age of seven, already a devoted bookworm, I came upon a large stack of early-20th century children's magazines filled with stories, poems, and especially fairy tales, some the classic kind, and some weird, scary or unfamiliar. I don't know where those dog-eared, well-thumbed annuals came from, or what happened to them afterward – they were lost or given away when our family moved, I suppose. But I have never forgotten them, or the effect they had on my imagination and longings. I've been searching for those long-lost tales ever since... and it finally led me to decide I would just have to write a few of my own.
The 19th-century Scottish writer George MacDonald is said to be the father of the modern fairy tale, inspiring C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many others. I chose The Light Princess because I find it his most charming tale: it's about a princess under a wicked spell who has been made weightless, unable to obey the laws of gravity. As in all good fairy tales, a prince eventually comes along to drag her back down to earth. He must sacrifice himself for her, but in the end, it is she who rescues him – from a feminist perspective, a most gratifying conclusion.
George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald’s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald’s finest short works―marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.
I’ve been fascinated by the power of place since I was tiny. I grew up as the child of British parents in New England, then lived several places before settling a few miles from where I started. As a writer, I come back again and again to how we relate to the land around us, and especially to the magic, lore, and traditions of our homes. We choose some of these, but others surprise us or are part of chance discoveries. I hope you enjoy these books that explore the power and magic of place as much as I have!
Pamela Dean’sTam Linhas been top of my favourite books list since I first read it more than 20 years ago.
It’s also a fascinating, nuanced, and evocative book about the magic and fantasy of a particular time and place - in this case, a liberal arts college in the mid-1970s in Minnesota. The fantasy elements of the book are slow to emerge (and reward a re-read later).
Dean deftly weaves together details of the place - season to season - but also the way that the lives of students change across their time at college. Most of all is the feeling of something just around the corner, whether it’s a ghost, a hint of magic, bagpipes drifting through the night, or small details that don’t quite add up.
In the ancient Scottish ballad "Tam Lin," headstrong Janet defies Tam Lin to walk in her own land of Carterhaugh . . . and then must battle the Queen of Faery for possession of her lover’s body and soul. In this version of "Tam Lin," masterfully crafted by Pamela Dean, Janet is a college student, "Carterhaugh" is Carter Hall at the university where her father teaches, and Tam Lin is a boy named Thomas Lane. Set against the backdrop of the early 1970s, imbued with wit, poetry, romance, and magic, Tam Lin has become a cult classic—and once you begin…
UK-born CY Croc started her career in the health industry, but later changed professions after obtaining a postgraduate degree in teaching. It was while teaching she discovered her dream profession. An author was invited to the school to showcase her latest book. Inspired, CY wrote over 30 books in the next 3 years in contemporary, sci-fi, and paranormal romance. She loves to include positive subliminal messages in her stories about body image, prejudice, and love from a higher realm and always practices inclusion in her writing. Her main characters practice autonomy and come from all races. CY believes everyone should experience love, and that's why some of her protagonists are not of this world.
Why only settle for one unearthly lover when you can have 3? Especially when the female protagonist turns out to be somewhat monstrous herself? This book features 3 completely different male monster protagonists that will stop at nothing to protect the female protagonist. You’ll find it difficult to choose your favourite book boyfriend in this exceptionally entertaining monster reverse harem.
As a writer and performer, I’ve always loved live storytelling! Stories really come alive when performed and there’s an unexplained magic that bonds an audience with the storyteller and connects us to our collective past. Having performed countless times in plays, murder mysteries, and storytelling, the joy and excitement felt crackling in the air is like nothing else. I’ve plenty of fond memories of storytelling over the years, from terrifying ghost stories around the campfire of Camp Wing in America to the fantastical folktales of my stage play The Storyteller’s Apprentice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. So, next time you’re sitting at a campfire, give it a go!
These stories run deep in my blood! I remember my Mum reading "Cinderella," "Hansel and Gretel," "Rapunzel," and "Snow White," to name a few, and being totally enthralled, captivated, and scared all at once.
Reading this edition as an adult evokes the same feelings, but I also experienced a sense of wonder and intrigue as I read the lesser-known stories such as "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers," "The Girl with No Hands," "The Nixie of the Millpond," and "Hans-my-Hedgehog."
I loved discovering these stories, closer to the originally published ones in their first collection, Children's and Household Tales in 1812, as they are much darker and scarier in nature than modern versions, and reading what Philip Pullman says about each one is an unexpected delight!
A phenomenal bestselling author meets the most magical stories ever told, now in a beautiful clothbound classics edition
In this stunningly designed book of classic fairy tales, award-winning author Philip Pullman has chosen his fifty favourite stories from the Brothers Grimm and presents them in a 'clear as water' retelling, in his unique and brilliant voice. These new versions show the adventures at their most lucid and engaging yet. Pullman's Grimm Tales of wicked wives, brave children and villainous kings will have you reading, reading aloud and rereading them for many years to come.
I’m a Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of horror fiction and have always had an affinity for the autumn season. I grew up in North Carolina and have wonderful memories of the time of year when the summer heat finally ends and the chill returns—the season of long walks in the turning woods, campfires, ghost stories, and, of course, Halloween. There’s something about that time that has always stuck with me and finds its way into my writing even now. My first collection, As Summer’s Mask Slips and Other Disruptions, draws on this period of transition and so I absolutely love sharing those works which have influenced and entertained me.
This graphic novel collection of horror stories is the perfect companion to ease you through the final stages of autumn and into winter. I’ve been a huge fan of author/artist Emily Carroll since her earliest webcomics, and this book perfectly captures how her gorgeous art and inventive use of space combine with poetic prose to invoke the feeling of the creepiest fairytales and fables. Carroll has a real mastery of the horror of the unknown and unexplained, and her stories provide no easy answers or cheap twists but instead linger long after the end. Even years later, I still get a shiver from my favorite, “His Face All Red”! The settings and moods capture the slow creep of autumn into winter’s chill and the darkness beyond.
Mike Thorn is the author of Shelter for theDamned, Darkest Hours, andPeel Back and See. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, includingVastarien, Dark Moon Digest, and The NoSleep Podcast.His books have earned praise from Jamie Blanks (director of Urban Legend and Valentine), Jeffrey Reddick (creator of Final Destination), and Daniel Goldhaber (director of Cam). His essays and articles have been published in American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper (University of Texas Press), The Film Stage, and elsewhere.
This book's heightened literary consciousness suggests a lifetime of practice, but it is, in fact, Gwendolyn Kiste's debut (she has quickly become one of contemporary dark fiction’s most celebrated, leading figures). Throughout Untether, the author examines both societal and individual forms of suffering (e.g. depression, dissociation, and the dangers of socially imposed normativities). My favorite piece is “Skin Like Honey and Lace,” which depicts a group of women who achieve social induction by taking skin from strangers and applying it to their own bodies. A staggeringly accomplished collection.
A murdered movie star reaches out to an unlikely fan. An orchard is bewitched with poison apples and would-be princesses. A pair of outcasts fail a questionnaire that measures who in their neighborhood will vanish next. Two sisters keep a grotesque secret hidden in a Victorian bathtub. A dearly departed best friend carries a grudge from beyond the grave.
In her debut collection, Gwendolyn Kiste delves into the gathering darkness where beauty embraces the monstrous, and where even the most tranquil worlds are not to be trusted. From fairy tale kingdoms and desolate carnivals, to wedding ceremonies and summer camps…
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