100 books like Live to See Tomorrow

By Iris Johansen,

Here are 100 books that Live to See Tomorrow fans have personally recommended if you like Live to See Tomorrow. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

Kate Andersen Brower Author Of Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit & Glamour of an Icon

From my list on rule-breaking, risk-taking, bad a$# women.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I covered the White House as a young reporter I was always more interested in understanding what was happening in the upstairs residence than in what briefings we were getting from the president’s advisers in the Roosevelt Room. I was raised with the understanding that in the end everyone is equal and that no one, no matter how powerful they are, gets out of the human experience. I think that’s what makes me interested in iconic women, from Elizabeth Taylor to Betty Ford. There’s nothing I like better than reading their letters and trying to understand what made them tick, and how they navigated their complicated and very public lives.

Kate's book list on rule-breaking, risk-taking, bad a$# women

Kate Andersen Brower Why did Kate love this book?

My friend Denise Kiernan shines a light on the thousands of women who worked on the Manhattan Project.

If you’ve seen Oppenheimer and you’re interested in the story behind the development of the atomic bomb, then this book will help you understand the hidden figures behind its creation. What I love the most about Denise’s writing is the way that she brings the mysterious origins of Oak Ridge, a Tennessee town created to house the people working on the bomb, to life. 

At a time when the stakes couldn’t have been higher, women were at the center of the story.

By Denise Kiernan,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—an incredible true story of the top-secret World War II town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb.

“The best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story...As meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” —Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not…


Book cover of The Prey

Angela Greenman Author Of The Child Riddler

From my list on women of courage and strength.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a writer and an internationally recognized communications expert who grew up poor, homeless, and oppressed by fear and violence. I am a woman who crashed through the glass ceiling and had an exciting career with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency where I became a leader on the international stage. During my troubled times growing up, I fantasized about being an elite operative who got the bad guys and traveled the world. That’s why I wrote about one. I know how hard it is to be a strong woman. That’s why I celebrate them. 

Angela's book list on women of courage and strength

Angela Greenman Why did Angela love this book?

The intriguing plot and the smart strength of the main character, Rowan Smith, kept me reading page after page, which isn’t easy with my short attention span. Rowan is a former FBI agent who wrote a bestselling novel that is being made into a movie. She is stalked by a mysterious killer who is copycatting the murders that she wrote about in her book. This story has all my favorite elements—a strong woman main character, a traumatic past that made her tough, and a story that is non-stop suspense. 

By Allison Brennan,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

First, she imagined it. Then a killer made it real.

“Taut, fast-paced suspense . . . a killer debut.”—Mariah Stewart

Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie. A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons. But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan’s novel. By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another…


Book cover of Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology

Angela Greenman Author Of The Child Riddler

From my list on women of courage and strength.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a writer and an internationally recognized communications expert who grew up poor, homeless, and oppressed by fear and violence. I am a woman who crashed through the glass ceiling and had an exciting career with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency where I became a leader on the international stage. During my troubled times growing up, I fantasized about being an elite operative who got the bad guys and traveled the world. That’s why I wrote about one. I know how hard it is to be a strong woman. That’s why I celebrate them. 

Angela's book list on women of courage and strength

Angela Greenman Why did Angela love this book?

The diversity in this feminist collection pushed me to open my mind. It didn’t allow me to accept there is only one way to be a feminist. Through the brave unconventionality of the stories, I saw how women see their connection to society, to the world, in different ways. I heard strong voices: creative, brilliant, and courageous ones. One of my favorite stories was L. Timmel Duchamp’s "The Forbidden Words of Margaret A". It kept me gripped and fascinated by what it didn’t say. 

By Ann VanderMeer (editor), Jeff VanderMeer (editor),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Sisters of the Revolution gathers a highly curated selection of feminist speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more) chosen by one of the most respected editorial teams in speculative literature today, the award-winning Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. Including stories from the 1970s to the present day, the collection seeks to expand the conversation about feminism while engaging the reader in a wealth of imaginative ideas.


From the literary heft of Angela Carter to the searing power of Octavia Butler, Sisters of the Revolution gathers daring examples of speculative fiction’s engagement with feminism. Dark, satirical stories such as Eileen Gunn’s…


Book cover of Women of Courage

Angela Greenman Author Of The Child Riddler

From my list on women of courage and strength.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a writer and an internationally recognized communications expert who grew up poor, homeless, and oppressed by fear and violence. I am a woman who crashed through the glass ceiling and had an exciting career with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency where I became a leader on the international stage. During my troubled times growing up, I fantasized about being an elite operative who got the bad guys and traveled the world. That’s why I wrote about one. I know how hard it is to be a strong woman. That’s why I celebrate them. 

Angela's book list on women of courage and strength

Angela Greenman Why did Angela love this book?

I love how the stories being shared, stories of inner strength—courage—are from a variety of women. From an Indian chief’s daughter’s actions during an uprising to a doctor’s fight to keep thalidomide from being prescribed to a Quaker’s efforts for the equal treatment of blacks in schools, this well-written book is about strong women who broke through walls and refused to be imprisoned by society’s accepted norms for what a woman’s role should be. While the women featured are not current, it doesn’t make the book any less significant. What’s important are their courageous stories. Heroes are heroes whether what they did was in the past or present.

By Margaret Truman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

God Cares About You. As a widow, the Father has made special provision for you in His Word, messages for you of His love and compassion, restoration in sorrow, and hope for the days ahead. He knows when your heart is hurting and will bring healing in a way that only the Father God can. As you face a new life, let His power strengthen you for the future. Lynda Robinson, minister and widow, will open the Scriptures to you God has designed for widows and their children. Her study of the Bible and understanding of God’s heart for widows…


Book cover of Tintin in Tibet

Anders Nilsen Author Of Big Questions

From my list on deeply human graphic novels.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a kid in the 80s the superhero comics I was obsessed with were beginning to deal with the real world in a new way. And their creators were beginning to push and pull at the boundaries of the medium with a new spirit of play and provocation. I still love comics that seriously deal with real life – its complexities and its profound weirdness – and that push the medium in new directions and reckon with its history. I also want to be absorbed and moved and to identify intently with characters. It’s what I try to do in my own work, and what I look for in that of others.

Anders' book list on deeply human graphic novels

Anders Nilsen Why did Anders love this book?

I have probably read this book more than twenty times. Maybe thirty. Maybe more.

I was six or seven the first time I read it and in my mid-forties the last time. And it has only gotten richer and more profound to me in that time. On the surface it is, like any other Tintin book, a children’s adventure comic, and if that’s all you want it’s a brilliant example of the genre.

Funny, exquisitely drawn, a cliffhanger on every page. But you don’t have to dig very far below the surface to find a deep, complicated meditation on friendship and loyalty, on determination in the face of doubt and adversity, and on discovering that the world is more mysterious and remarkable than we are accustomed to think. 

By Herge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tintin in Tibet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The classic graphic novel. One day Tintin reads about a plane crash in the Himalayas. When he discovers thathis friend, Chang, was on board, Tintin travels to the crash site in hopes of a rescue.


Book cover of The Hotel on the Roof of the World: From Miss Tibet to Shangri-La

Rachel Dodds Author Of Are We There Yet? Traveling More Responsibly with Your Children

From my list on traveling more responsibly with children.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love travel and I'm also passionate about making the world more sustainable. When I was 13, on vacation in Mexico, I saw raw sewage running down the beach. My father said to me, "you can choose to be part of the solution or part of the problem." I think that set me on a track that we need to help animals, the environment, and those who do not have a strong voice. Even if I can only do one thing better – that's still better than not doing anything at all! I'm passionate about traveling more responsibly with my family because we ultimately make life better for our children and also for ourselves.

Rachel's book list on traveling more responsibly with children

Rachel Dodds Why did Rachel love this book?

I laughed out loud when I read this book. The author has a way of describing cultural differences and how we approach our work and day-to-day life in such an amusing way. It made me think a lot about how we interpret others' culture and, ultimately, our need for sensitivity and the need to look at life through a different lens rather than just work.

By Alec Le Sueur,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hotel on the Roof of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On a par with the best of Bill Bryson and Pico Iyer, Alec Le Sueur's bestselling insider account of life at the world famous Holiday Inn, Lhasa, Tibet (altitude 14,000 feet) pits Communist owners against capitalist manager to create a chain hotel in Shangri-La. Against all odds, heroic Tibetan workers fight with Chinese bosses who turn off the heat in reezing weather when occupancy falls below 20 percent. They struggle against Maoist bureaucrats trying to break up the first Miss Tibet beauty pageant. And they delicately remove the American Express card from the wallet of an apparently deceased guest to…


Book cover of Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet

Stephen Haddelsey Author Of Shackleton's Dream: Fuchs, Hillary and the Crossing of Antarctica

From my list on forgotten expeditions and extraordinary journeys.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’m fascinated by the history of exploration, I’m most attracted to the stories that have been lost, neglected, or forgotten. Why, for instance, is Sir Vivian Fuchs – arguably the most successful British Antarctic explorer of the twentieth century – not as well-known as Scott or Shackleton? Why do we know so little of Operation Tabarin – the only wartime Antarctic expedition to be launched by a combatant nation? These are the kind of questions that I want to answer, and these are the expeditions that I have wanted to examine. I’ve been fortunate to meet and interview some truly extraordinary men – and telling their stories has been a joy and a privilege.  

Stephen's book list on forgotten expeditions and extraordinary journeys

Stephen Haddelsey Why did Stephen love this book?

This book doesn’t tell the story of one expedition, it recounts many, launched by men of nine different nationalities, all intent on breaking into the closed world of Tibet. I am not alone in considering Hopkirk to be one of the great masters of what might be described as ‘historical travel’ books, and this is surely one of his best. Populated by a wonderful cast of characters, all determined to be the first westerner to reach the sacred, and forbidden, city of Lhasa. I can’t recommend it highly enough – and, enjoy one of Hopkirk’s books, and you’ll enjoy them all.  

By Peter Hopkirk,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Trespassers on the Roof of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For nineteenth-century adventures, Tibet was the prize destination, and Lhasa, its capital situated nearly three miles above sea level, was the grandest trophy of all. The lure of this mysterious land, and its strategic importance, made it inevitable that despite the Tibetans' reluctance to end their isolation, determined travelers from Victorian Britain, Czarist Russia, America, and a half dozen other countries world try to breach the country's high walls.

In this riveting narrative, Peter Hopkirk turns his storytelling skills on the fortune hunters, mystics, mountaineers, and missionaries who tried storming the roof of the world. He also examines how China…


Book cover of My Tibetan Childhood: When Ice Shattered Stone

Benno Weiner Author Of The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier

From my list on understanding Tibetan plights in contemporary China.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first became interested in Tibetans and their relationship with China when, as a nineteen-year-old backpacker, I found myself traveling through the Sino-Tibetan frontier. While drinking yak butter tea in a monk’s cell or eating mutton in nomad tents, it was easy to forget that I was in the People’s Republic of China. So I began to wonder, how did this happen? As a historian of modern China and Inner Asia, I continue to look for answers. My work is driven by an otherwise unremarkable observation: the violent, prolonged, and perhaps incomplete process by which the diverse Qing empire was remade into a Chinese nation-state is among the key unresolved questions of modern Chinese history.

Benno's book list on understanding Tibetan plights in contemporary China

Benno Weiner Why did Benno love this book?

I’ve read a bunch of English-language memoirs written by Tibetans living in exile. My Tibetan Childhood is different. Originally written in Tibetan and published by an underground press in China, Naktsang Nulo’s remarkable memoir of growing up in the grasslands of Amdo during the 1950s is meant to preserve for younger generations of Tibetans the traumatic story of their homeland’s incorporation into the Chinese state. 

The first half offers a nostalgic but unflinching portrayal of life before the coming of the Chinese. Unlike much of the exile literature, this is not an idealized Tibet but one filled with violence and injustice as well as community and faith. The second half describes in harrowing detail the events of 1958 when Nakstang’s chiefdom was destroyed, his father shot and killed, and he and his brother were left to survive prison camps and then horrific famine. All told through the eyes of a…

By Naktsang Nulo, Angus Cargill (translator), Sonam Lhamo (translator)

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In My Tibetan Chldhood, Naktsang Nulo recalls his life in Tibet's Amdo region during the 1950s. From the perspective of himself at age ten, he describes his upbringing as a nomad on Tibet's eastern plateau. He depicts pilgrimages to monasteries, including a 1500-mile horseback expedition his family made to and from Lhasa. A year or so later, they attempted that same journey as they fled from advancing Chinese troops. Naktsang's father joined and was killed in the little-known 1958 Amdo rebellion against the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the armed branch of the Chinese Communist Party. During the next year, the…


Book cover of Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism

Sarita Armstrong Author Of The Magic of Tao in The Tarot

From my list on tarot archetypes and the I Ching.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always seen my life as a journey, with lessons to be learnt along the way. Adventures on land and sea have drawn me into contact with many races and traditions and brought me close to nature in its many moods. When a physical journey ends, an inner journey takes me in directions I had never looked at before. Early spiritual questioning led me to eastern philosophies and made me aware of the underlying links between all cultures. In relying on my own experiences rather than what others have written, I believe my writing brings a freshness and individuality to the age-old questions of who we are and where we are going.

Sarita's book list on tarot archetypes and the I Ching

Sarita Armstrong Why did Sarita love this book?

In the preface, Govinda explains: Anticipating the future, Tomo Geshe Rinpoche, one of the greatest spiritual teachers of modern Tibet and a real master of inner vision, left his remote mountain hermitage ... and proclaimed that the time had come to open to the world the spiritual treasures which had been hidden and preserved in Tibet for more than a thousand years. Because humanity stands at the crossroads of great decisions: before it lies the Path of Power ... leading to enslavement and self-destruction – and the Path of Enlightenment ... leading to liberation and self-realization.

This deeply spiritual book takes the reader through the Tibetan mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum in a way that gives true meaning to what it really is to be human.

By Lama Anagarika Govinda,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A complete explanation of the esoteric principles of Mantra that also clarifies the differences between Hindu and Tibetan yoga. Translated into many languages, this is an important text for any student of Buddhism. With bibliography, index, and illustrations.


Book cover of The Life of Milarepa: A New Translation from the Tibetan

Lorne Ladner Author Of The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology

From my list on biographies within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a clinical psychologist who also writes about and teaches Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation. I've had the great good fortune to be closely mentored by a number of elder Tibetan teachers who were educated in old Tibet.  Over the decades, when seeking wisdom and compassion in the midst of life's challenges, I've repeatedly found inspiration, education, solace, and guidance along my own path in the enlightened and enlightening life stories of a number of the great scholar/yogis of the Himalayan Buddhist traditions. 

Lorne's book list on biographies within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition

Lorne Ladner Why did Lorne love this book?

For me personally, this book changed my life more than any other, opening me up to the inspiring possibility that a deeply imperfect person could become enlightened through sincere and mighty efforts. This work is one of the world's great stories. The name Milarepa has inspired people for a millenium throughout Central Asia, being almost synonymous with being a yogi and with redemption through heartfelt efforts. It includes Milarepa's life story and some of the many poems which he spontaneously composed to educate and enlighten others as he wandered through the Himalayas.

By Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, Unknown,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Life of Milarepa is the most beloved story of the Tibetan people amd one of the greatest source books for the contemplative life in all world literature. This biography, a true folk tale from a culture now in crisis, can be read on several levels: a personal and moving introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, it is also a profoundly detailed guidebook in the search for consciousness. It presents the quest for spiritual perfection, tracing the path of a great sinner who became a great saint. But it is also a powerful and graphic folk tale, full of magic, disaster, feuds,…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Tibet, journalists, and kidnapping?

Tibet 50 books
Journalists 208 books
Kidnapping 117 books