Fans pick 100 books like One More River to Cross

This author is great at setting a scene. It was a fast-paced romance that concentrated on the man's determination and satisfied my craving for a strong flavor of the period with plenty of historical backdrop. I was enthralled, captivated, and entertained by the dialog and the maneuvering of the characters' exchanges.

The plot was simple and straightforward but it never lagged or ceased to keep me reading.

Simply put, Ms. Miller never fails to entertain me. She always gives a strong plot. I can count her to present strong women, and men who can appreciate them, even though they bug the hell out of them.

The purpose and goals of her characters are right up front in her stories. I like that, too; it keeps me turning the pages. Also, she places her stories in familiar territory. I can see myself there, among the citizens of her towns, her people. It’s relatable. I’m at home when I read her stories. 

The story plopped me down into the plot within the first few pages. I love this Victorian time period. It’s dark and moody without being threatening. You can almost smell the grungy, wet streets and the smog. Lots of twists and turns and characters that are both menacing and charmingly deceptive.

I wasn’t given the answer to all the questions right away, but I liked that, even though I probably could have guessed where it was going. I like a strong plot and strong female characters with their own agenda. And men who can admire, fall in love with, and not be threatened by smart women.

This author is new to me, but she won’t be for long. As Western romances go, it was different. I liked that there was a quest. I also liked that the female character was intrepid, strong-willed, and fierce. And the man had to accept that.

Both of them were tough; they had to be, and yet both of them were soft-hearted, and they recognized that they were equal. It was a delight to read. It even brought forth a giggle or two as they spared and rangled like a really good John Wayne movie.

I love how this book elevates lying into an art form. Following the convention of the era, Defoe published the work as if it were written by its main character, Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe stands out from its peers for the subtlety of its mimicry. I envy how natural and easy Defoe makes writing look.

The book reveals the novel’s roots in other genres, such as satire, journalism, religious writing, and personal narrative. Defoe excelled at all of these, and I find the strange convergence mesmerizing. It’s possible to see the outlines of these earlier traditions even as something like a modern novel comes into view.

With apologies to Oprah and James Frey, this book helps me remember that the best writers have always been a bit loose with the truth. 

When I read this book, I was very glad I came to it late. I never had to wait to get the next book in the series. While I am recommending this book in particular because it is the first, the whole trilogy is needed to get the full effect of the story.

Following 16-year-old Adam through this story was fun and exciting. The emotions ranging from scared as hell to hopeful throughout kept me engaged. The main feeling I kept was the hope that he and his family would stay safe in the community stronghold that they had built. I also hoped that even though society had fallen fast, maybe it could eventually be healed. 

A little levity may be required as we watch the world crumble around us. Anne Washburn’s play reads as a multi-generational game of telephone. Beginning shortly after the apocalypse, with television now obsolete, people gather round a campfire and begin retelling what they remember from random episodes of The Simpsons. In the second act, the retelling has evolved into an oral tradition far from the original. By the third act, we’re eighty years removed from the apocalypse, and the story has become its own bizarre and surreal performance. I read Mr. Burns and saw the play in person years ago, but I still think about it and laugh. It might also somehow be a fairly accurate depiction of our post-apocalyptic world.

In 1968 I was a seventeen-year-old kid working in Manhattan. Getting off work each evening, I’d wander around the city. Can you imagine how much fun that would be for a young boy? One night, on 42nd Street, I found a movie theater showing an obscure, black-and-white movie called, Night of the Living Dead. The first thirty minutes, the audience laughed at the film, but as the movie rolled on, and the sense of dread about this group of strangers trapped together in a farmhouse, zombies outside trying to get inside, increased, the theater went silent. The director, George Romero, admitted in interviews his movie was inspired by I Am Legend. Near the end of his life, Romero, with Krauss, wrote this comprehensive history of the zombie apocalypse.

This is a classic “I Can’t Put It Down” book.

Ashley is lost in the woods, an emotional and physical wreck, and she’s got to figure a way out. The two things she has going for her are serious survival skills and a fierce determination to never give up. Some of her challenges border on the unbelievable, but then, so do so many real-life stories we’ve all read about.

The reader gets to know and understand Ashley, with all her flaws exposed, as the worsening events force her to dig deep into who she is and what she’s capable of. The author might push the limit of what qualifies as YA, and as an adult I loved it, but when I was fifteen, I would have loved it even more.

I’ve read several of Christina Henry’s books. I enjoyed them all, but this one is my absolute favorite. Mattie lives in the mountains with her abusive husband, and she has no memory beyond the last few years, and she lives in fear of her husband’s wrath. An unknown, large creature appears and makes things more complicated. Mattie has to escape her husband and a monster in the woods and try to remember her past. This novel is one of the best horror stories I’ve ever read. It’s suspenseful and you never know what will happen next. One of my favorite things about this novel is, despite the supernatural creature, it’s not over-the-top and everything feels real including the actions and choices of the characters. This is definitely a must-read.