100 books like Life of the Party

By Tea Hacic-Vlahovic,

Here are 100 books that Life of the Party fans have personally recommended if you like Life of the Party. 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 Rebecca

Julia Buckley Author Of A Dark and Stormy Murder

From my list on cozy funny mysteries that are also spooky gothic.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m Julia Buckley, a passionate lifelong reader, English teacher, and mystery writer. I gravitated toward mystery as a child when my mom read all the greats of 20th Century Mystery and Romantic Suspense and then passed them on to me. When I became an English teacher, I had the privilege of teaching some of the great Gothic classics like Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and The Castle of Otranto. Teaching these great works and researching the way that all Gothic literature stemmed from Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe, I realized that MANY of the books I read are tinged with the Gothic. 

Julia's book list on cozy funny mysteries that are also spooky gothic

Julia Buckley Why did Julia love this book?

This is a Gothic suspense classic, but the suspense is gradual in the most delicious way. The book begins with a 1930s meet-cute in which a young paid companion to a rich and unpleasant woman meets a wealthy, unhappy widower at a resort. The young woman befriends the man while her employer is bedridden with a cold, and the two share some funny and touching moments.

The Gothic part comes when he unexpectedly proposes marriage, and they return to his gargantuan family estate, Manderley, which was formerly run by his late wife, Rebecca. Now, the spookiness permeates the story, from the shadowy corners of the mansion to the constant watchfulness of the very creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. Rebecca has been in print for almost a hundred years, and that alone is evidence of its awesomeness.

In this modern feminist era, Maxim DeWinter might seem horribly patriarchal, but it’s utterly believable…

By Daphne du Maurier,

Why should I read it?

47 authors picked Rebecca as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

* 'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY
* 'One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century' SARAH WATERS
* 'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .'

Working as a lady's companion, our heroine's outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the south of France, she meets a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory…


Book cover of The Girls

Martin Nathan Author Of A Place of Safety

From my list on people in dangerous systems of belief.

Why am I passionate about this?

My family was divided by religion, leaving me skeptical about belief systems. After a background in science, I studied philosophy and became intrigued by Heidegger's ‘pitiless atheism.’ The power of his thought but his personal failings have long been an issue for academics. I have since been fascinated partly by powerful personalities but more by the struggle of their followers as they suspend critical thinking and make huge sacrifices to offer their support. This struggle and difficulty of turning back, particularly as the systems begin to collapse, are a feature of many of the works of fiction that intrigue me most, particularly in the books I have chosen.

Martin's book list on people in dangerous systems of belief

Martin Nathan Why did Martin love this book?

I liked the subtlety of the storytelling here and the way the whole tragic plot develops. Events develop as much out of boredom and lack of engagement rather than from evil intent.

The false messiah here doesn’t offer a great path and is not particularly charismatic. He just offers something slightly more interesting than all the others around. The outcome depends on accident more than any evil intention. Emma Cline finds an engaging way to explore a piece of history without exploitation.

By Emma Cline,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A gripping and dark fictionalised account of life inside the Manson family from one of the most exciting young voices in fiction.

If you're lost, they'll find you...

Evie Boyd is fourteen and desperate to be noticed.

It's the summer of 1969 and restless, empty days stretch ahead of her. Until she sees them. The girls. Hair long and uncombed, jewelry catching the sun. And at their centre, Suzanne, black-haired and beautiful.

If not for Suzanne, she might not have gone. But, intoxicated by her and the life she promises, Evie follows the girls back to the decaying ranch where…


Book cover of My Sweet Audrina

Rebecca Jones-Howe Author Of Ending in Ashes: A Short Story Collection

From my list on accompanying your sad girl aesthetic.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up, books and music became a refuge for the feelings I found I couldn't express aloud. I loved artists like Garbage and The Dresden Dolls. I felt most at home in stories about female angst, sexuality, and rage. Female stories helped me understand the dichotomy of the madonna/whore complex. They helped me understand where my emotions clashed with societal expectations, and how to push at those boundaries in a constructive way. I've always been fascinated with female rage, and stories that poke a stick into the body of the "good girl" stereotype always make for a cathartic and validating read. Females can be anti-heroes too.

Rebecca's book list on accompanying your sad girl aesthetic

Rebecca Jones-Howe Why did Rebecca love this book?

V.C. Andrews was my first dive into gothic fiction. Fans often fawn over Flowers in the Attic but something about Andrews' only standalone book (let's not talk about the sequel!) really spoke to 14-year-old me.

I loved the isolating setting of the aging Whitefern estate. I hated every member of the family. Audrina herself is an unreliable narrator who assures the reader just how unreliable she is. And so, of course, when a boy shows her interest, she dives headfirst into her only source of comfort.

Teenage me was smitten with this book, and adult me now sees all the red flags these characters wave. Andrews might not have been the best writer, but her storytelling ability sure cut into my coming-of-age female psyche like no other writer could.

By V.C. Andrews,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Sweet Audrina 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 haunting story of love and deceit, innocence and betrayal, and the suffocating power of parental love from V.C. Andrews.

The idea of her sister hovered above them all.

Audrina fiercely desired to be as good as her sister. She knew her father could not love her as he loved that other girl, for her sister was so special, so perfect—and dead.

Upstairs in a locked room awaited her sister’s clothes and dolls, her animals and games—and her sacred rocking chair. Now Audrina will rock and rock and rock to reclaim all of her gone sister’s special gifts.

And then…


Book cover of Let Love Come Last

Rebecca Jones-Howe Author Of Ending in Ashes: A Short Story Collection

From my list on accompanying your sad girl aesthetic.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up, books and music became a refuge for the feelings I found I couldn't express aloud. I loved artists like Garbage and The Dresden Dolls. I felt most at home in stories about female angst, sexuality, and rage. Female stories helped me understand the dichotomy of the madonna/whore complex. They helped me understand where my emotions clashed with societal expectations, and how to push at those boundaries in a constructive way. I've always been fascinated with female rage, and stories that poke a stick into the body of the "good girl" stereotype always make for a cathartic and validating read. Females can be anti-heroes too.

Rebecca's book list on accompanying your sad girl aesthetic

Rebecca Jones-Howe Why did Rebecca love this book?

I picked up this book on a whim and was lured by the premise, which essentially lays out the story of a woman who marries a successful man at the turn of the century.

It's your standard "wealthy family has everything but they're all miserable" book but with Edwardian vibes. The narrative follows every member of the family, the saga of which I found so riveting. There was a bit of romance and angst and loneliness, specifically around the book's protagonist, Ursula.

This book resonated with me in a way that similar books haven't, which goes to show just what period drama can do, showing you that humans still struggle with the same stuff, no matter the time or place, but with a dash of romantic gothic aesthetic to make it fun.

By Taylor Caldwell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Let Love Come Last as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FORMER LIBRARY BOOK WITH USUAL STAMPS & MARKINGS. SAME COVER AS STOCK PHOTO SHOWN. MINOR EDGE WEAR, SOME CHAFING & DINGS ON SPINE AND COVERS. CONTENT PAGES TANNED & WITH OCCASIONAL DISCOLORATION.


Book cover of Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure

Adele Buck Author Of The Wedding Bait

From my list on people over 40 getting a happily ever after.

Why am I passionate about this?

I wrote my first romance with >40 characters in my mid-forties. It wasn’t like I never saw people of my age in the genre, but I have to say they were (and are) still rare, especially in traditionally published books. I love to see how people navigate what partnership looks like when people are established and their conflicts and experiences have changed. Elder care, relationships with adult children, fighting age-related stereotypes and discrimination: these are just a few of the nuances that set these types of books apart. But you still get that delicious well of emotion and the satisfaction of a happy ending. 

Adele's book list on people over 40 getting a happily ever after

Adele Buck Why did Adele love this book?

A historical sapphic novella with women over 60? And they’re going to get revenge on a very bad man in very inventive ways? Do you really need me to sell this book harder to you?

Okay, fine: it’s Courtney Milan, whose wit, creativity, and compassion for humanity in general and her characters specifically always awe me. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing Courtney couldn’t do. 

By Courtney Milan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mrs. Bertrice Martin—a widow, some seventy-three years young—has kept her youthful-ish appearance with the most powerful of home remedies: daily doses of spite, regular baths in man-tears, and refusing to give so much as a single damn about her Terrible Nephew.Then proper, correct Miss Violetta Beauchamps, a sprightly young thing of nine and sixty, crashes into her life. The Terrible Nephew is living in her rooming house, and Violetta wants him gone.Mrs. Martin isn’t about to start giving damns, not even for someone as intriguing as Miss Violetta. But she hatches another plan—to make her nephew sorry, to make Miss…


Book cover of The Devil Comes Courting

Erika Erickson Malinoski Author Of Pledging Season

From my list on where nonviolence changes the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lifelong sci-fi/fantasy reader who loves the way speculative fiction helps us explore who we are, what we could become, and how to troubleshoot the future before we get there. As a parent and active community member, I’m looking for fresh perspectives on how to tackle the increasingly complex challenges of our time, perspectives that go beyond simplistic solutions like finding bad guys and killing them in climactic battles. I hope books that showcase nonviolent social change in all its complexity can help us imagine better ways to make a difference in our own lives.

Erika's book list on where nonviolence changes the world

Erika Erickson Malinoski Why did Erika love this book?

Along with authors like Alyssa Cole and Talia Hibbert, Courtney Milan is a luminary of romance’s liberatory wing. If love can conquer all, let’s aim it at something worthwhile! This book takes one of humanity’s deepest nonviolent instincts, the desire for one another, and shows how it gives people the strength to support each other through the hard work of building a better world. I want to recommend all of Milan’s books, but from a nonviolence perspective, The Devil Comes Courting stands out because of the way it also wrestles with what reconciliation (the last step in Kingian nonviolence) really means.

By Courtney Milan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Devil Comes Courting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Captain Grayson Hunter knows the battle to complete the first worldwide telegraphic network will be fierce, and he intends to win it by any means necessary. When he hears about a reclusive genius who has figured out how to slash the cost of telegraphic transmissions, he vows to do whatever it takes to get the man in his employ.

Except the reclusive genius is not a man, and she’s not looking for employment.

Amelia Smith was taken in by English missionaries as a child. She’s not interested in Captain Hunter’s promises or his ambitions. But the harder he tries to…


Book cover of The Castle

David Oppegaard Author Of Claw Heart Mountain

From my list on to unsettle your reality.

Why am I passionate about this?

My sense of reality has always been tenuous and my work represents that. Almost everything I’ve written has been a blending of genres set in landscapes where things aren’t always what they seem. I’ve written a dark fantasy novel, a horror-Western, a horror-thriller, a literary novel with actual space aliens, and a modern horror novel with roots in historical western expansion in the U.S. And that’s just the books I’ve somehow managed to get published!

David's book list on to unsettle your reality

David Oppegaard Why did David love this book?

I’m a huge Franz Kafka fan. He was weird and troubled and wrote about feeling alienated from the world as well as any writer who ever lived. He was also funny and undeniably unique. He was so bizarre his last name became a phrase (“Kafkaesque”) that indicates something is oppressive or nightmarish. How cool is that? I chose The Castle because it’s his last, lesser-known novel, but also one of his most amusing and poignant, a novel he failed to finish before he died. Which is, of course, very fitting.

By Franz Kafka, Anthea Bell (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A study of relationships, particularly between the individual and society and between thought and action, The Castle is one of Kafka's most profoundly imaginative works. As fear and worry develop in a series of strangely illogical events and man's quest for freedom heightens, this classic novel confirms Kafka's reputation as one of the greatest creators of visionary fiction this century.


"Kafka discovered the hitherto unknown possibilities of the novel, and it is thanks to him that the very notion of the novel is not the same as it was before." --Milan Kundera

"He is the greatest German writer of our…


Book cover of The Duke Who Didn't

Katherine Grant Author Of The Viscount Without Virtue

From my list on historical romances for intersectional feminists.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a historical romance reader, I’m a sucker for stories about the glamorous aristocracy falling in love. While Regency and Victorian romances have explored feminism for at least the last two decades, the genre often falls short of asking more of itself. Of course the debutante shouldn’t need a man – but while the story liberates her, it doesn’t take any notice of the non-aristocratic,  non-Anglican, non-White, less-abled, and/or non-cishet straight characters around her. I yearned for stories that required my favorite aristocrats to acknowledge, examine, and leverage their privilege. All five of these authors deliver – without forgetting our favorite tropes and genre conventions!

Katherine's book list on historical romances for intersectional feminists

Katherine Grant Why did Katherine love this book?

When I pick up a Courtney Milan historical romance, I know I will be hit in the heart with a story that is as insightful as it is moving.

The only question was which of her books to include in this list!

I chose The Duke Who Didn’t because it explores class, race, and gender roles in the delightful setting of a small town in the English countryside hosting an annual sports festival.

The plot reckons with the aristocrat’s responsibility to his people, the challenges and joys of a working-class community, and the exploitation of non-British identities for profit.

And because it is a Courtney Milan novel, it does so with plenty of clever tropes and swoon-worthy romance!

Book cover of Such a Good Boy

Davide Calì Author Of Where the World Ends: A Zip, Trik, and Flip Adventure

From my list on starring characters with four paws.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a children's books author and a cartoonist. I’ve published more than 160 books, most of them are picture books but I’ve also published comics and novels. I work for many French magazines, writing comics and short tales. I usually travel the world to see kids at school or give lessons. I’m also an art director for a literary factory based in London. I play the electric guitar and sometimes I write songs.

Davide's book list on starring characters with four paws

Davide Calì Why did Davide love this book?

I love Marianna’s work. She has been one of my students and since she left school she’s doing great! Buz is a lucky dog. He lives in a luxury house, he got someone taking care of him and he got good and healthy food. Buz is a good dog, but sometimes, he would like to be free of running wild and rolling in the mud.

By Marianna Coppo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Such a Good Boy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

The ultimate kids' book about dogs, being good, being bad, and being yourself!

From the award-winning, critically acclaimed author of Petra.

Meet Buzz the dog.

He's such a good boy.

Buzz seems to have a perfect life .. .

and a lot of very well-behaved friends.

Buzz would never dream of being anything other than good.

Right, Buzz?
Buzz . . . ?

For anyone who has ever felt pressure to be "good" at the expense of their own self-expression, and for anyone who has ever owned and loved a dog, this beautifully illustrated picture book from author-illustrator Marianna Coppo…


Book cover of The Last Days of Pompeii

Judith Harris Author Of Pompeii Awakened: A Story of Rediscovery

From my list on the joys of life in classical antiquity.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a freelance journalist in Italy, I covered, for Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and others, tough topics: terrorism, the Mafia, the heroin traffic which passed via Sicilian laboratories to the U.S. At a certain point I found this overly negative. After taking a course in Rome on archaeology, by chance I was asked to direct a BBC half-hour documentary on Pompeii. In so doing, I realized that it was  time to focus upon the many positive elements of Italian life and history. From that life-changing documentary came this book on Pompeii, on which I worked for five rewarding years. My next book was on historical Venice.

Judith's book list on the joys of life in classical antiquity

Judith Harris Why did Judith love this book?

Edward Bulwer Lytton's influential 19th century novel The Last Days of Pompeii was inspired by a painting he had seen in Milan. He immediately rushed to Pompeii, where his book was published in 1834, by coincidence exactly when Vesuvius erupted. It became an immediate success and is still being published. As Benjamen Disraeli wrote that November, "A trembling spectator, I watched the artists till I was overcome by the phantasma, and was glad to find myself once more in the solitude of my armchair." Available in economic form. The book became an immediate success and is still being adapted to today's media.

By Edward Bulwer-Lytton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Last Days of Pompeii as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) was a prolific novelist, poet and playwright in his day; in modern times, his work is considered much as Lovecraft described: “large doses of turgid rhetoric and empty romanticism.”

Originally published in 1834, "The Last Days of Pompeii" itself was probably the first novelization of the catastrophic event.  The city was rediscovered in the mid-1700s and archaeological excavations followed soon after.  Bulwer-Lytton was inspired to write his novel by the painting The Last Day of Pompeii by Karl Briullov, painted in the early 1830s.

"The Last Days of Pompeii" tells the story of the Athenian Glaucus, his…


Book cover of Rebecca
Book cover of The Girls
Book cover of My Sweet Audrina

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