Fans pick 100 books like Nottingham

I first read Rediker’s work as a graduate student, and from the first pages, I was “hooked.”

Want to understand what made pirates tick? In this book, pirates are recast not as violent, unthinking brutes but as ordinary, sea-going laboring men driven to lawlessness by the brutal demands of expanding Atlantic trade.

I especially appreciated Rediker’s situating pirate behavior and customs within the broader world of maritime life. He argues that these outlawed men created a floating society that was then the most egalitarian and democratic in the Western world.

The story of two mystical creatures stuck in 1899 New York who have to make their own way in the world.  Despite their different natures, they become unlikely friends and have to work together to survive. 

While I enjoyed the perspective of both supernatural beings in this book, I found the golem especially engaging. Through her eyes, the reader gets an amazingly detailed view of turn-of-the-century New York as well as the intricacies of human behavior. 

The jinni faces different challenges—he’s lost a chunk of his memory—but he also has to adapt to life among people. Wrapped in a rich tapestry of historical details, the story walks us through their processes of acclimating to human society and facing the dangers of their pasts.

This book, set during the Elizabethan period, tells the intrigue-filled story of Christopher (or Kit) Marlowe as he agrees to be a spy for the Queen of England in order to make the money he needs to become a playwright. I know what you’re thinking. This does involve a monarch, but it’s very much about what happens when a desperate man makes a deal with powerful people to achieve his dreams, and ends up in trouble. If you know what happened to the famous playwright who was Shakespeare’s peer before his death (or what likely happened to him), you know what I mean. This book is a thriller, but is at its heart a love story about a man in love with his art and his best friend, and his struggle to choose between them. 

This is absolutely the GOAT of lesbian historical fiction. Fingersmith is probably my favorite of Sarah Waters’ work, but this is simply iconic and changed my life when I read it as a teenager. 

It’s a raucous, vibrant riot of a book, and Nan is an unforgettable protagonist. Readers will barrel through the sights and sounds of Victorian London as Sarah Waters brings them to life in gorgeous technicolor. Sarah Waters is unbelievably skillful at blending Nan’s personal awakening in with the social and political context of England at the end of the 19th Century. A masterclass, and you’ll never see oysters in the same way again. 

We know from the beginning of this book that Gen is a liar. We see him lying, pretty much constantly, to everyone he meets. And yet the twist ending of this book, when all lies drop away, and all truths are revealed, is so surprising and satisfying, I can hardly stand it.

The squee, the squee! That twist reframes the entire plot of the book, and I had to immediately flip right back to the first page and read it again. Avoid spoilers; grab this book and let it take you for a ride.

I have all the albums of Julia Donaldson, and I must say that I appreciate her work a lot, she plays with sonorities like in nursery rhymes. The Highway Rat is especially praised by my kids, and I think it’s because the hero is openly cruel and abominable, stealing the food of other animals with no pity at all… And, well, he’s arrogant and shameless but obviously punished at the end.

Pets+heists=hilarity.

There are so many things to love about this funny, fast-paced story: the pets refer to their human as Mrs. Food. The sneaky plan they devise and why. The relationships between the entire cast of characters which includes not just Butterbean the dog but also Oscar the mynah bird, Walt the cat, a pair of rats named Marco and Polo, and others.

It is delightful, and you and your young reader will chuckle all the way through this one. 

One of the wonderful things about Tomi Ungerer’s books is that the characters and stories are so unexpected. The pictures in The Three Robbers are powerful and beautiful, with lots of black at the beginning when the robbers are being monstrously bad and stealing from their hapless victims. But by the end of the story the blue, green, yellow, red, and white have taken over the pictures and the robbers’ hearts have been melted by a little orphan girl. It is a joyful story of robbers being reformed and doing good with all their ill-gotten gains. The colours themselves help so much in communicating the emotions of the story.

The Gentleman Bastards are a fun, exciting group with a connection that feels genuine throughout the story and has, by far, some of the best and most hilarious dialogue I've ever read in a book. I've also learned quite a bit about fantasy storytelling from this story, in that you can craft a compelling fantasy story without huge, world-changing stacks by making the characters emotionally motivated in their goal.

The mystery was also a pleasant surprise, as it incorporated clever clues and plot points that came together nicely for a satisfying conclusion. Actions and choices actually weighed in on the events.

Elmore Leonard was the first crime author I ever read, and his books are what got me hooked on the genre.

Like many of his characters, Jack Foley, despite being a criminal, in this case a bank robber, is just so much fun to spend time with and read about.

The book starts with Foley escaping from prison only to find himself bundled into the trunk of a car with a female US marshal. What follows is a cat-and-mouse, cops and robbers tale, as only Elmore Leonard could have written it.

Fabulous characters, amazing situations, and some of the coolest dialogue in all of fiction. The film was great, but the book is even better.

Read it and you’ll want to read everything else he ever wrote.