100 books like Earthrise

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

Here are 100 books that Earthrise fans have personally recommended if you like Earthrise. 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 Blackened Roots

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?

Blackened Roots is an excellent collection of bloody, messy, intrigue. Often, we don’t get to see zombies from the lens of people of color (ex. Michonne from The Walking Dead) so this collection is worth its weight in gold. It has so many different perspectives on the classic horror monster that I certainly think should be read as a thriller on Juneteenth.

The stories are all very well-written by indie and traditionally published authors alike, so it’s very diverse and I really enjoyed the voices of each author. One doesn’t have to be a horror fan to enjoy it (though I’m certain it helps!) as there is also plenty of humor, dark and otherwise, to have fun with too. 

By Brandon Massey, Nicole Givens Kurtz (editor), Tonia Ransom (editor)

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Mocha Memoirs Press and Nightlight Podcast are proud to present Blackened Roots: An Anthology of the Undead - a groundbreaking anthology celebrating nontraditional zombie stories from the African diaspora. The anthology is co-edited by Stoker-nominated and award-winning editor and writer Nicole Givens Kurtz and 2022 World Fantasy Award(R) Winner and 2022 Ignyte(R) Winner, producer, and editor Tonia Ransom at NIGHTLIGHT.


Blackened Roots is a unique collection and will be a must-have for zombie lovers. Blackened Roots takes the zombie mythos back to its roots. Drawing from a variety of cultural backgrounds, Blackened Roots imagines a world of horror and wonder…


Book cover of Muscadine Wine

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?

Muscadine Wine is a love letter to the South and to romance. It’s a collection of stories that really show the charm and complications of living in the South. Someone once called it supernatural soul and I think that’s a great way to describe it.

I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life, so it was really nice to see landmarks and other things that I know even though this is set in decades past, as plenty of things endure through time. It also has some great folklore to it, which is one of Milton J. Davis’ specialties in his books.  

By Milton J. Davis,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Lightning bugs on a summer evening. A lazy river filled from a spring rain. The taste of honeysuckles. The aroma of wild grapes ripe on the vine. A collection of fantasy and contemporary fiction stories set in Southwest Georgia based on the experiences of author Milton J. Davis, Muscadine Wine is a personal homage to the land and Black people of South Georgia.


Book cover of Better Angels

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?

This book is a fantastic story that’s a throwback to noir and espionage. I loved the vibrant voice and the distinct characters, as well as the storyline itself. It has one of my favorite voices in the narration, often witty, vulgar, and insightful. It’s definitely a book of mystery and intrigue with plenty of humor to make it enjoyable, too. 

By Geoffrey Thorne,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

THE PLAN: Scam the Russians out of some loot and drugs; skip town before they know they’ve been fleeced.THE PROBLEM: Your partner pulls a double cross. Your girlfriend is totally useless. The Russians comingfor their property, ahead of schedule. THE SNAG: This guy Max shows up with his Hard Guy attitude and quick fists. Better remember the first rule in GRAY HARBORMAKE SURE THE GUY HOLDING THE GUN IS YOU.


Book cover of When Night Falls: Book One Of The Three Gifts

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?

An excellent fantasy tale with loads of great imagery and a very distinct narrative voice. It blends some of the best kinds of epic and high fantasy together. It also has very intricate and interesting lore to its story and characters that I couldn’t put down.

I loved seeing the creativity in how his world was formed and how it operates. Coleman is really able to paint a picture that’s beautiful and unique. 

By Gerald L. Coleman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

New York Times Bestselling Author, Andrew Hartley calls it "Vast and thoroughly realized. Rich and sweeping: a true epic!"

Book Description:

We rarely consider the reputation of our age. An ordinary one, for most of us, would suffice. You might be an Empress too concerned with the affairs of State, a soldier focused on your duty, a former rascal trying to find redemption, or even a great warrior too busy with your command to know that there are whispers being spoken in late-night taverns. But what happens when your ordinary age stops being so ordinary? What happens when dark, twisted…


Book cover of The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States

Steven Rogers Author Of A Letter to My White Friends and Colleagues: What You Can Do Right Now to Help the Black Community

From my list on reasons behind the enormous racial wealth gap.

Why am I passionate about this?

Steven Rogers is a retired professor from Harvard Business School (HBS) where he created a new course titled, “Black Business Leaders and Entrepreneurship.” He has written more HBS case studies with Black protagonists than anyone in the world. He is an HBS and Williams College alum. He majored in Black history. He has taught at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and West Point U.S. Military Academy. He has published 3 books including Entrepreneurial Finance (4 editions), Successful Black Entrepreneurs, and A Letter to my White Friends and Colleagues: What You Can Do Now to Help the Black Community.

Steven's book list on reasons behind the enormous racial wealth gap

Steven Rogers Why did Steven love this book?

After interviewing me for my new book in May 2021, the editor of a suburban newspaper in Chicago asked me to write an Op Ed piece about the new federal holiday, Juneteenth. It is the day of recognition and celebration of the ending of slavery in the last confederate state of Texas in 1865. My Op Ed piece titled, “My Bittersweet Feelings About Juneteenth,” was written to inform and educate adult readers about June 19, 1865. That was the day Union Troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and began informing Black enslaved people that they were officially emancipated. 

The Juneteenth Story is a well-researched and beautifully written historical depiction of the same event. But the targeted audience of readers are children. It is the size of a large typical children’s coloring book filled with pretty colors and appealing graphic art. My 40-year-old daughter, Akilah, gave it to me as a Father’s…

By Alliah L. Agostini,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Juneteenth Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

With colorful illustrations and a timeline, this introductory history of Juneteenth for kids details the evolution of the holiday commemorating the date the enslaved people of Texas first learned of their freedom​.

On June 19, 1865—more than two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation—the enslaved people of Texas first learned of their freedom. That day became a day of remembrance and celebration that changed and grew from year to year.

Learn about the events that led to emancipation and why it took so long for the enslaved people in Texas to hear the news. The first Juneteenth began as “Jubilee…


Book cover of On Juneteenth

Nina Silber Author Of This War Ain't Over: Fighting the Civil War in New Deal America

From my list on the ongoing legacy of the American Civil War.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having grown up visiting lots of historic sites – and hearing my father sing old Civil War tunes (frequently off-key!) on long car trips – I gravitated pretty quickly to studying the Civil War, and its aftermath, when I was in college and then in graduate school. I was particularly interested in the way Americans experienced the Civil War after it was over: the sentimental novels they read; the romantic movies they watched; the reconstructed battlefields they visited. In my work as a professor at Boston University, I try to get students to think about the stories that do, and do not, get told about the Civil War and other events from the past. I suppose the question that always piqued my interest was why people might find the often wildly inaccurate versions of the past so appealing.

Nina's book list on the ongoing legacy of the American Civil War

Nina Silber Why did Nina love this book?

In this brief and powerful book, esteemed historian Annette Gordon-Reed focuses on “Juneteenth”, the day (June 19, 1865) when enslaved workers in Texas were declared free by the Union Army following the conclusion of the Civil War. For Gordon-Reed, a black Texas woman, Juneteenth, recently declared a federal holiday, offers a starting point for pondering the legacy of slavery and emancipation for Afro-Texans and for thinking more broadly about the tension between history and myth. In the course of all this, Gordon-Reed tells her own personal story about navigating the often fraught terrain of her state’s legacy of racial exploitation.

By Annette Gordon-Reed,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Interweaving American history, dramatic family chronicle and searing episodes of memoir, On Juneteenth recounts the origins of the holiday that celebrates the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. A descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas in the 1850s, Annette Gordon-Reed, explores the legacies of the holiday.

From the earliest presence of black people in Texas-in the 1500s, well before enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown-to the day in Galveston on 19 June 1865, when General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery, Gordon-Reed's insightful and inspiring essays present the saga of a "frontier" peopled by…


Book cover of Terminal Boredom: Stories

Kelby Losack Author Of Mercy

From my list on that feel like watching anime.

Why am I passionate about this?

Anime and manga have always been the biggest influences on my own writing, from the drastic tonal shifts and bizarre scenarios to the frenetic pacing and strange characters. Underdogs fighting tooth and nail against increasingly overwhelming foes in a perpetual struggle to take the slightest step forward—those are the characters I relate to, the stories I want to tell. 

Kelby's book list on that feel like watching anime

Kelby Losack Why did Kelby love this book?

Through a masterfully balanced blend of straightforward and poetic prose, the late counter-cultural figure Izumi Suzuki depicts raw humanity against proto-cyberpunk landscapes.

People are transplanted into others’ dreams, interstellar border politics are navigated by junkies, and aliens roleplay as human in a world left to ruin. The mix of high emotion and high weirdness that makes the best anime is present in every story of this book.

By Izumi Suzuki,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

On a planet where men are contained in ghettoised isolation, women enjoy the fruits of a queer matriarchal utopia -- until a boy escapes and a young woman's perception of the world is violently interupted. Two old friends enjoy cocktails on a holiday resort planet where all is not as it seems. A bickering couple emigrate to a world that has worked out an innovative way to side-step the need for war, only to bring their quarrels (and something far more destructive) with them.
And in the title story, Suzuki offers readers a tragic and warped mirroring of her own…


Book cover of Evermore

Denise O. Eaton Author Of Arigale: Spite in the Spirit

From my list on fantasy that anime lovers will enjoy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Fantasy has always been a passion and an escape for me. It started with copious amounts of reading, then I found anime when I was only a child as Cardcaptors began to air on TV. I’ve watched hundreds of anime shows since then and continued my penchant for reading and writing almost exclusively in the fantasy genre. In college, I obtained a BA in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing, so I have a good grasp on literature analysis and many works. In addition, I studied Japanese for two years, lived in Japan for six months, and held a position at the anime club while I was in college.

Denise's book list on fantasy that anime lovers will enjoy

Denise O. Eaton Why did Denise love this book?

Evermore has an anime-level mystical other world with copious drama and shenanigans afoot. There are strained friendships, romance, death-defying endeavors, and more. Who doesn’t love a good immortal chasing after his love through different lifetimes? I appreciate that the MC isn’t a damsel in distress even with the romance-heavy lean of the book. There’s plenty of mystery and action with the MC’s ability to see spirits and auras as she tries to discern the strange things happening around her. I have so much love for themes of life and death. I can see parallels between this book and the anime The Ancient Magus Bride. Both involve not-so-distant other worlds and a protagonist who has shut herself away for her gifts falling in love with an immortal.

By Alyson Noël,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Evermore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Don't miss Evermore, the first book in Alyson Noël's #1 New York Times bestselling The Immortals series. Enter an enchanting new world where true love never dies. . .

After a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact and suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He's the only one who…


Book cover of Bloody Spade

Denise O. Eaton Author Of Arigale: Spite in the Spirit

From my list on fantasy that anime lovers will enjoy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Fantasy has always been a passion and an escape for me. It started with copious amounts of reading, then I found anime when I was only a child as Cardcaptors began to air on TV. I’ve watched hundreds of anime shows since then and continued my penchant for reading and writing almost exclusively in the fantasy genre. In college, I obtained a BA in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing, so I have a good grasp on literature analysis and many works. In addition, I studied Japanese for two years, lived in Japan for six months, and held a position at the anime club while I was in college.

Denise's book list on fantasy that anime lovers will enjoy

Denise O. Eaton Why did Denise love this book?

I loved the magical girl reminiscent transformations in this book mixed with a dark story. I’ve always had a fondness for the genre, and this book gave me a mix of Shugo Chara and Madoka Magica vibes. As a demisexual, I also really felt seen from all of the asexual spectrum representation in the main cast. I am a character first writer, so I loved the large cast and how insanely compelling each character and their backstory was. Every personality is so unique it bursts off the page, which is what really drew me into this book and made it my favorite novel of all time. The aesthetics also really help, since the flashier the magic the better in my opinion.

By Brittany M. Willows,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bloody Spade 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 girl full of heart
A thief touched by darkness
A boy with a fiery temper
An unwitting servant of evil

The era of magic was once thought to be a myth, but after the Reemergenceushered forces both dark and light into the mundane world, it has sincebecome a harsh reality. Now those affected by this strange power—aspecialized group of Empowered called Jokers, known collectively asCardplay—must protect their world from the darkness that threatens toconsume it, all the while fighting for equality in a society clinging to normalcy.

But the Reemergence was only the beginning.

When another influx occurs on…


Book cover of Ghosts of East Baltimore

Kelby Losack Author Of Mercy

From my list on that feel like watching anime.

Why am I passionate about this?

Anime and manga have always been the biggest influences on my own writing, from the drastic tonal shifts and bizarre scenarios to the frenetic pacing and strange characters. Underdogs fighting tooth and nail against increasingly overwhelming foes in a perpetual struggle to take the slightest step forward—those are the characters I relate to, the stories I want to tell. 

Kelby's book list on that feel like watching anime

Kelby Losack Why did Kelby love this book?

The story takes place within a 12-hour time frame, in which our protagonist—fresh out of prison—must navigate cosmic horrors and old habits on his way to the halfway house.

The whole time, we as the reader are given in-depth historical and cultural insight into the city of Baltimore. The classic “first day out” narrative is given an anime-flavored spin with the inclusion of mech battles, mysterious gimp-suited beings, and eldritch gods. 

By David Simmons,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Save the Eastside, save the world.

In Baltimore, Worm has just returned from a two year stretch in prison. When he finds out that his hometown is being brutally destroyed by a dangerous new chemical, Worm is reluctantly catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with chaos and destruction. Can one man save the city before his 9:00 p.m. curfew at the halfway house?



“Ghosts of East Baltimore is like The Wire meets Bloodborne directed by Takashi Miike. The wildest time I had reading a book in recent memory.” - J. David Osborne, author of Black Gum and Our Blood…


Book cover of Blackened Roots
Book cover of Muscadine Wine
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