Love High Fidelity? Readers share 100 books like High Fidelity...

By Nick Hornby,

Here are 100 books that High Fidelity fans have personally recommended if you like High Fidelity. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

C Fleming Author Of Dark Horse

From my list on quirky lead female characters to fall in love with.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been writing fiction since an early age, and I naturally create central female characters that I hope are warm, funny, and in some way flawed. Modules of my university degree dealt with psychology and sociology, and I automatically studied other people to inspire elements of my character. Lee Child is quoted as saying readers remember characters more than the plot, so when compiling my list, I recalled five female leads that have made me laugh, cringe, and relate to in equal measure. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 

C's book list on quirky lead female characters to fall in love with

C Fleming Why did C love this book?

Iā€™ve never read a book as quickly as I read this one. Our eponymous lead character is quirky and odd, but the story is written with so much empathy, depth, and humor that I was rooting for her from the start.

I loved how the relationship between Eleanor and Raymond plays out and avoids the predictable ā€˜boy meets girlā€™ ending. It doesnā€™t surprise me that the book is ā€˜in developmentā€™ as a movie, as the story plays out like a film when you read it. Definitely read this one first before you see the film! (It probably wonā€™t take long as I couldnā€™t put this book down.)

By Gail Honeyman,

Why should I read it?

29 authors picked Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

"Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric and regimented loner whose life beautifully unfolds after a chance encounter with a stranger; I think you will fall in love, too!" -Reese Witherspoon

No one's ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life ofā€¦


Book cover of Against Nature (A Rebours)

John Andrew Fredrick Author Of The King Of Good Intentions Part Three

From my list on reads if your rock ā€˜nā€™ roll party days are over.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a perfect of exemplar of an author whose party days are decidedly not over, but Iā€™m doubtless at the age/stage where Iā€™m bloody contemplating at least paring down my intakes plural. Not that Iā€™m still at it like a Sophomore or anything but Iā€™m hanging in there. I get a great, tingly buzz (you had to have seen this coming!) recommending great books to keen readers. I live in a libraryā€”essentiallyā€”and friends who visit for a beer or a spliff most often leave with a book Iā€™ve given them. Now you lot are gonna ask me to lend you some scratch! Now youā€™ve gone and done it, John! Haha.

John's book list on reads if your rock ā€˜nā€™ roll party days are over

John Andrew Fredrick Why did John love this book?

I like to recommend difficult booksā€”everyone needs a challenge once in a while and the nihilist Huysmans kind of throws down a literary gauntlet here in that heā€™s sort of daring you to go with him to the abysses of the modern soul. 

This book is indeed way more psychedelic than any 60ā€™s Beat guy or girl ever penned or dreamed.

By Joris Karl Huysmans, John Howard (translator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Against Nature (A Rebours) as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Against Nature (A Rebours)By Joris-Karl Huysmans, John Howard (Translated by)


Book cover of The Midnight Library

Kirsten McKenzie Author Of Fifteen Postcards

From my list on time travel that sucks you into alternate reality.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve always been fascinated by the concept of time travel, especially how it can pull you into an entirely different timeline and make you question the choices that shape your life. As a reader, Iā€™m drawn to stories where time travel isnā€™t just a plot device but a way to explore themes of fate, identity, and the consequences of our actions. Over the years, Iā€™ve delved into countless books that do just thatā€”books that transport me to worlds both familiar and entirely new. This list reflects my passion for time travel stories that not only entertain but make me think long after Iā€™ve turned the last page.

Kirsten's book list on time travel that sucks you into alternate reality

Kirsten McKenzie Why did Kirsten love this book?

This is a life-affirming read I wonā€™t stop recommending. I loved how Haig explores the infinite possibilities of life and the choices we make, all within the imaginative concept of a library that holds alternate versions of our lives. The emotional depth of Noraā€™s journey really resonated, especially her search for meaning and self-acceptance.

This might be a middle-aged thing! It made me reflect on my own life choices, and I found myself feeling uplifted by the end. It is one of my top five books of all time.

By Matt Haig,

Why should I read it?

37 authors picked The Midnight Library as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."-The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story ofā€¦


If you love High Fidelity...

Ad

Book cover of Liberty Bell and the Last American

Liberty Bell and the Last American by James Stoddard,

Americans love their Constitution. In seventeen-year-old Liberty Bellā€™s era it has become a myth. Centuries after the Great Blackout obliterates the world's digitized information, America's history is forgotten. Only confused legends remain, written in "The Americana," a book depicting a golden age where famous Americans from different eras existed together.ā€¦

Book cover of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Steven J. Kolbe Author Of How Everything Turns Away

From my list on read after a mental breakdown.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been fascinated with mental health since long before I was officially diagnosed with Bipolar I. Even as an elementary schooler, I recognized that I was different from my peers: I thought more deeply and often more darkly, I experienced higher highs and lower lows, often beyond my control, and I very rarely discussed my home life. Writing became a logical and perhaps life-saving outlet as soon as I learned to put words into letters (mostly the wrong letters, but thank God for spell-check). 

Steven's book list on read after a mental breakdown

Steven J. Kolbe Why did Steven love this book?

This coming-of-age novel has everything: love, grunge music, angst, and a slow revelation of past trauma. I don't think I speak for everyone with mental health issues, but I know that having a traumatic childhood is a common, shared factor amongst people with serious diagnoses. I read this one before I understood why I identified so strongly with it.

Charlie lives on the fringes, barely dipping a toe into the social melee that is high school life, yet, with courage and determination, he carves out a place for himself. While his new friendships allow him to find himself, they also allow him the safety to confront the wounds of his past, wounds too large for even his teenage self to come to grips with. 

Even though my last manic episode was over sixteen years ago, I am only recently doing the real work of processing and understanding the traumatic experiencesā€¦

By Stephen Chbosky,

Why should I read it?

18 authors picked The Perks of Being a Wallflower 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?

A modern cult classic, a major motion picture and a timeless bestseller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story.

Charlie is not the biggest geek in high school, but he's by no means popular.

Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is attempting to navigate through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and music - when all one requires to feel infinite is thatā€¦


Book cover of Ready Player One

Z.T. Soyoye Author Of The Unwanted

From my list on spark your child-like wonder.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve always chased that child-like wonderā€”the intoxicating mix of passion, adventure, and discovery. Growing up, I sought books that could capture that magic, and as a writer, I now understand how rare and powerful it is to evoke those raw emotions. These books gave me that spark, inspiring me both personally and creatively. They even motivated me to create Visual Novel, a tool designed to bring stories to life and immerse readers further into their worlds. I hope this list rekindles that sense of innocent wonder and reminds you of the beauty and weight of youthful imagination.

Z.T.'s book list on spark your child-like wonder

Z.T. Soyoye Why did Z.T. love this book?

This book filled me with pure wonder. The futuristic setting felt like a glimpse into a world weā€™re on the brink of creating, where technology can be both a refuge and a battlefield. I loved the way it combined a digital universe with a gritty, imperfect realityā€”it made me think about how much potential the future holds, both thrilling and terrifying.

The sense of exploration and possibility was so vivid that I found myself daydreaming about what could be long after I turned the last page. Itā€™s a story that reminds me how powerful imagination can be. The characters arenā€™t perfect, which made them feel real, and I was hooked by the idea of ordinary kids taking on extraordinary challenges. This one made me feel like anything was possible in the future.

By Ernest Cline,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked Ready Player One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket thatā€¦


Book cover of The Sun Also Rises

Dermot Ross Author Of Hemingway's Goblet

From my list on featuring a damaged protagonist.

Why am I passionate about this?

Right from an early age, I have always been interested in the fallibility of the human condition, being particularly conscious of my own faults. People who are too good to be true are of little interest, except that I want to know their faults or their secrets. I have found myself drawn to complex characters, those who have good and bad characteristics, and some of the novels and movies that I have enjoyed most feature such characters. In my career as a lawyer, I have met all kinds of people who have made bad decisions or suffered misfortune, and it has always been a pleasure trying to help them. 

Dermot's book list on featuring a damaged protagonist

Dermot Ross Why did Dermot love this book?

When I first read this book, I was somewhat mystified by what the fuss was all about. All I could see was a story of a group of dissolute and disillusioned expats living a pointless life of pettiness and drinking. However, as I separately learned more about Hemingway and his writing style, I was drawn back to the book, and on subsequent readings, I was able to discern more in the characters and the plot than was apparent in my first reading.

The protagonist Jake Barnes, impotent because his penis appears to have been shot off as a result of a wound in World War I, is further emotionally damaged, possibly with PTSD from his war experiences and with a cynicism and sadness that engage the readerā€™s attention. 

By Ernest Hemingway,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked The Sun Also Rises as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jake Barnes is a man whose war wound has made him unable to have sexā€”and the promiscuous divorcĆ©e Lady Brett Ashley. Jake is an expatriate American journalist living in Paris, while Brett is a twice-divorced Englishwoman with bobbed hair and numerous love affairs, and embodies the new sexual freedom of the 1920s. The novel is a roman Ć  clef: the characters are based on real people in Hemingway's circle, and the action is based on real events, particularly Hemingway's life in Paris in the 1920s and a trip to Spain in 1925 for the Pamplona festival and fishing in theā€¦


If you love Nick Hornby...

Ad

Book cover of We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter

We Had Fun and Nobody Died by Amy T. Waldman,

This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoterā€™s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands ofā€¦

Book cover of The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Donna Gordon Author Of What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me

From my list on featuring young characters with anomalies.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a fiction writer and visual artist. My volunteer work with Amnesty International on a documentary photography project introduced me to 15 people from all over the world. During that time, I volunteered at a camp in Maine for kids who had life-threatening illnesses. I met a boy who had Progeria. Those two experiences fueled the writing of What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me. Iā€™m interested in characters who donā€™t fit the traditional mold and have to carve their own paths. People who are born with life-threatening diseases, imperfections, handicaps, brilliance. I see a kind of bravery in these characters, and in all they have to do to overcome the odds.  

Donna's book list on featuring young characters with anomalies

Donna Gordon Why did Donna love this book?

RenĆ©e is the concierge in an elegant Paris hotel. Widowed and in her 50s, she calls herself ā€œshort, ugly and plump,ā€ a working-class nobody. She takes refuge in aesthetics and ideas but refuses to let her knowledge show. RenĆ©eā€™s friend in the building is 12-year-old Paloma, beyond precocious, who feels so let down by the meaningless in the world that she plans to commit suicide. Both characters are philosophers of sorts.  ā€œBeauty consists of its own passing, just as we reach for it,ā€ says Paloma. In the end, they rescue one another from despair and loneliness. The experience of the book that was so satisfying for me, is the exchange of ideas about life and happiness, which are expressed more as a kind of philosophical discourse rather than a traditionally plotted novel. The ideas, expressed so intelligently and poetically, kept me going.

By Muriel Barbery, Alison Anderson (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Rene is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building. She maintains a carefully constructed persona as someone uncultivated but reliable, in keeping with what she feels a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Rene: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Rene lives with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laidā€¦


Book cover of Wonder Boys

Bill Torgerson Author Of Love on the Big Screen

From my list on romantic comedy from the 80s.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the eighties, and that means I grew up watching movies such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Say Anything. Thirty years after watching those movies, some iconic scenes have stuck with me: the characters of The Breakfast Club sliding across the hallway to Simple Mindsā€™ song ā€œDonā€™t You Forget About Me,ā€ John Cusack holding the boombox over his head while blaring Peter Gabrielā€™s ā€œIn Your Eyes,ā€ and the Psychedelic Furs ā€œPretty in Pinkā€ song playing on the soundtrack of a movie by the same name. The books in this list do a lot with those same ingredients of heartbreak, music, and hope that the characters who so often remind me of myself might find love. 

Bill's book list on romantic comedy from the 80s

Bill Torgerson Why did Bill love this book?

This is a funny and dramatic book and movie in which Grady Tripp is a university writing teacher who makes a mess out of his relationships. Heā€™s having an affair with the chancellor of the college he teaches at, his wife has moved out maybe for good, and one of the students he has in class and who rents a room from him is attracted to him.

Trippā€™s life is like a train wreck you can't stop watching, but also somehow funny. This book also became a great movie of the same name, starring Michael Douglas as the professor, Robert Downey Jr. as his agent, Frances McDormand as the chancellor, and Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes as students. I mean, cā€™mon, doesnā€™t that sound great?!!!

By Michael Chabon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A deft parody of the American fame factory and a piercing portrait of young and old desire, WONDER BOYS is a modern classic from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY.

Grady Tripp is an over-sexed, pot-bellied, pot-smoking, ageing wunderkind of a novelist now teaching creative writing at a Pittsburgh college while working on his 2,000-page masterpiece, WONDER BOYS. When his rumbustious editor and friend, Terry Crabtree, arrives in town, a chaotic weekend follows - involving a tuba, a dead dog, Marilyn Monroe's ermine-lined jacket and a squashed boa constrictor.

A novel of elegant imagination, boldā€¦


Book cover of Girl in a Band: A Memoir

Bill Torgerson Author Of Love on the Big Screen

From my list on romantic comedy from the 80s.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the eighties, and that means I grew up watching movies such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Say Anything. Thirty years after watching those movies, some iconic scenes have stuck with me: the characters of The Breakfast Club sliding across the hallway to Simple Mindsā€™ song ā€œDonā€™t You Forget About Me,ā€ John Cusack holding the boombox over his head while blaring Peter Gabrielā€™s ā€œIn Your Eyes,ā€ and the Psychedelic Furs ā€œPretty in Pinkā€ song playing on the soundtrack of a movie by the same name. The books in this list do a lot with those same ingredients of heartbreak, music, and hope that the characters who so often remind me of myself might find love. 

Bill's book list on romantic comedy from the 80s

Bill Torgerson Why did Bill love this book?

The phrase ā€œgirl in a bandā€ in the title got me to pick this book up off a table in the bookstore. I am the kind of guy who will pick up five or so books at a bookstore, take them over to the most comfortable spot I can find, and read the first few pages to see if I want to buy any of them.

The writer Kim Gordon was in an indie post-punk band called Sonic Youth, and I had just barely heard of them. After three years in Sonic Youth, Kim marries one of her fellow band members, and they stay married for 29 years. This book starts when the two of them take the stage together for the last time as they head for divorce and the band's breakup.

ā€œThey say when a marriage ends,ā€ Gordon writes on the first pages, ā€œthat little things you neverā€¦

By Kim Gordon,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Girl in a Band as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A new edition, part of the Faber Greatest Hits series -- books that have taken writing about music in new and exciting directions for the twenty-first century.

In Girl in a Band Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth and role model for a generation of women, tells her story. She writes frankly about her route from girl to woman and pioneering icon within the music and art scene of New York City in the 1980s and 90s as well as marriage, motherhood, and independence.

Filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a remarkable life, Girlā€¦


If you love High Fidelity...

Ad

Book cover of Love, Sex, and Other Calamities: 15 Stories and a Poem by Ralph Hickok

Love, Sex, and Other Calamities by Ralph Hickok,

From Kirkus Reviews: "This debut short-story collection paints the wistful life of a newspaper journalist as seen through his sexual and romantic encounters...

Throughout, Hickok writes in an assured style, pulling readers along. The narrow sexual focus results in a distorted picture, yet other aspects of Art's life emerge atā€¦

Book cover of Me Talk Pretty One Day

Louisa Clarke Author Of The Work Smarter Guide to Presenting: An Insider's Guide to Making Your Presentations Perfect

From my list on boost confidence in giving presentations.

Why am I passionate about this?

Looking at this list, I think it reveals that I am fundamentally a nosy person. I love reading other peopleā€™s diaries and letters and getting the inside story of a personā€™s life. And Iā€™m also fascinated by how people present themselves to the world. Giving presentations is one way to show ā€˜who you are,ā€™ so perhaps it's not surprising that I now work with people to help them tell their stories, share their ideas, and be the best they can be in front of an audience. Many people say they ā€˜hateā€™ presenting, and my mission is to help them overcome that. 

Louisa's book list on boost confidence in giving presentations

Louisa Clarke Why did Louisa love this book?

I love David Sedarisā€™s writing. He is so observant and has a brilliant ear for dialogue. Iā€™ve read his diaries, which are some of the source material for this book of essays. The title refers to him learning French whilst living in Paris.

His attempts to read his essays to the class are often met with contempt by his French teacher, who barely disguises her scorn at his efforts. But, respect for Davidā€™s work ethicā€“he often spent the whole day on his French homework, so determined was he to crack the language. Another life lesson: there are no shortcutsā€“you have to put the work in.

By David Sedaris,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Me Talk Pretty One Day as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A new collection from David Sedaris is cause for jubilation. His recent move to Paris has inspired hilarious pieces, including Me Talk Pretty One Day, about his attempts to learn French. His family is another inspiration. You Cant Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers and cashiers with 6-inch fingernails. Compared by The New Yorker to Twain and Hawthorne, Sedaris has become one of our best-loved authors. Sedaris isā€¦


Book cover of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Book cover of Against Nature (A Rebours)
Book cover of The Midnight Library

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,007

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in romantic love, music, and presidential biography?

Romantic Love 957 books
Music 759 books